"The Fed's mouthpiece": International situation and domestic employment have put the Fed in a dilemma, leaving it with no choice but to wait and see.

According to Mars Finance, on March 8th, Nick Timiraos, a Wall Street Journal reporter often referred to as a "Federal Reserve mouthpiece," wrote that the Fed's biggest fear has always been being forced to choose between combating inflation and protecting jobs. Friday's jobs report brought this dilemma one step closer. Nick cited Neel Kashkari, president of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve and a voting member of the FOMC this year, who recently warned that the current situation could be a "replay" of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and reminded the Fed not to repeat the mistake of judging inflation as temporary in 2021. Regarding the Fed's next move, Timiraos believes: "Currently, Fed officials are likely to just wait and see. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell urged other (FOMC) members to cut rates three times by the end of last year, but each rate cut sparked increasing controversy within the Fed's 12-member interest rate decision-making committee. Officials have made it clear that they are in no hurry to adjust rates at the meeting later this month, and even if one month's data is worrying, it is unlikely to shake this stance." Timiraos believes that if the unemployment rate continues to rise in the coming months, the Fed may resume rate cuts by the middle of this year. However, if inflation data picks up again before then, internal resistance will increase significantly. He concludes that a central bank facing both weakening employment and renewed inflation risks "has very few good options."