Federal Reserve Should Pause on Interest Rates: Editorial

Investors expect the Federal Reserve to cut its policy rate on Oct. 29, and once more by the end of the year. Right now, amid enormous uncertainty about where the economy is headed, the case for cutting is weak. The Fed would be wiser to pause.

Core consumer-price inflation edged lower in September — but at 3%, where it’s lingered for the past year, it remains well above the central bank’s target. True, as Fed officials have stressed, the labor market has cooled — yet unemployment, at 4.3% in August, is still in line with the bank’s mandate of “maximum employment.” ...