The weak February jobs report supoorts the rationale for the central bank to lower interest rates further, Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran said in a CNBC interview.
Responding to the drop of 92,000 in nonfarm payrolls that the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, Miran said in the interview that the Fed should be focusing more on supporting the labor market than worrying about inflation.
“I think that we don’t have an inflation problem,” he said on the “Money Movers” show. “I think that the labor market can use more accommodation from monetary policy. And I don’t see having a modestly restrictive stance of monetary policy as opposed to a neutral stance as being appropriate. I think being close to neutral is appropriate.”
CNBC reported that the Fed’s key interest rate is targeted in a range between 3.5% to 3.75%, following three consecutive quarter percentage point cuts in the latter part of 2025.
Miran said that if he had his way, the rate would be around neutral, which he deems to be about a full percentage point lower, CNBC said. The consensus of Fed officials at the December meeting was that neutral, a level that neither holds back nor boosts the economy, is around 3.1%, implying two more cuts.
Miran has argued that stubbornly high inflation numbers are more a function of how it is measured by the Commerce and Labor departments rather than true underlying pressures.
Management Fees Have Risen
He cited portfolio management fees as one factor that have risen amid a generally higher stock market. Portfolio management fees often are charged as a percentage of assets, so when markets rise the dollar value of those fees rises even though the underlying rate for those services does not.
Miran said that the recent surge in oil prices and corresponding boost for costs gas at the pump related to the Iran war are less of a concern.
“Typically, the Federal Reserve doesn’t respond to higher oil prices like that. It [boosts] headline inflation, but it tends to be a one-off shock,” he said. “When you think about core inflation [which does not include energy prices], it tends to be more predictive of where inflation is going over the medium term than headline inflation.”
CNBC pointed out that Miran has dissented at each of the Federal Open Market Committee meetings he has attended since September, after President Donald Trump nominated him as a governor. For the three rate cuts, he preferred more aggressive half percentage point reductions to the quarter-point moves the committee approved, CNBC noted.
When the FOMC voted not to cut in January, Miran said he wanted a quarter-point reduction.
When Miran was asked if he would dissent again, he said: “I hope not, but that would be up to my colleagues. I hope that we vote to cut.”
Miran is among a group of Fed officials who have expressed opinions on what lies ahead.
Alberto Musalem, President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, for example voiced his opinion about the economy and interest rates in a lunchtime question-and-answer session at the Missouri Athletic Club, Musalem said the overall economy is prepared for a good year in 2026 and that he sees the economy growing “at or above potential,” which is around 2%, St. Louis magazine reported.
“There are a lot of tailwinds that are going to propel the economy forward,” Musalem said, assisted by three quarter-point cuts to interest rates made in the second half of 2025, and some deregulation in the financial system.
Miran was appointed to full the unexpired term of Adriana Kugler, who resigned in August 2025, CNBC noted. That term expired in January, but Miran has continued to serve until a successor is approved.
Trump has officially nominated Kevin Warsh to a position that ultimately will be a replacement for current Fed Chair Jerome Powell, whose term expires in May.
