A solid jobs report for May has reinforced the Federal Reserve’s stance that it can take its time before restarting interest rate cuts, an approach that drew renewed ire from President Trump on Friday.
Mr. Trump told reporters in the evening that his pick for the next chair of the Fed was coming soon and that he had a pretty good idea of whom he would select for the role, which Jerome H. Powell will vacate next May.
The comments followed a string of attacks on the Fed on Friday by Mr. Trump, who again railed against Mr. Powell for moving too slowly to lower interest rates. In posts on social media, the president called Mr. Powell “a disaster” and suggested that Fed policymakers cut rates by a full percentage point.
“He is costing our Country a fortune,” Mr. Trump wrote. “Borrowing costs should be MUCH LOWER!!!”
Officials have held interest rates steady since January amid extreme uncertainty about the economic outlook as a result of Mr. Trump’s policies. The central bank has signaled it will need to see clear signs that the labor market is weakening before lowering rates again, a higher bar than in the past given expectations that inflation could reignite this year.
Asked on Friday evening about Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor who is seen as a front-runner to be named chair and nearly got the position in Mr. Trump’s first term, the president said, “He’s very highly thought of.”
The next Fed opening that Mr. Trump will be able to fill is in January, when Adriana Kugler’s term as a governor is set to expire. He recently had to opportunity to appoint a new vice chair for supervision, Michelle Bowman, who was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday.