President Donald Trump on Tuesday continued his attacks on the Federal Reserve, this time saying Chairman Jerome Powell and central bankers were "their own worst enemies" after a U.S. manufacturing index posted the weakest monthly reading since the end of the last recession in 2009.
"As I predicted, Jay Powell and the Federal Reserve have allowed the dollar to get so strong, especially relative to ALL other currencies, that our manufacturers are being negatively affected," the president said on Twitter. "Fed Rate too high," Trump wrote.
"They are their own worst enemies, they don't have a clue," Trump said. "Pathetic."
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said Tuesday that its factory index slipped to 47.8 in September, the lowest since June 2009.
The figure missed all estimates in a Bloomberg News survey that had called for an increase from 49.1 in August.
The ISM reading, below 50 for the second straight month, is considered a leading indicator of economic downturns and comes amid a global slowdown and the U.S. trade war with China.
The latest reading extends the drop from a 14-year high just over a year earlier and may add to calls for the Fed to further cut interest rates further.
Slowing global growth has damped demand for manufactured goods at home and abroad while trade policy uncertainty has disturbed supply chains and put hiring plans on hold.
Trump has repeatedly ripped the Fed for not cutting interest rates further, arguing that monetary policy — not his tariff war with Beijing — is hurting the economy.
The Fed cut interest rates last month for the second time in seven weeks, by a quarter of a percentage point, but Trump argued still that the central bank should cut rates to zero.
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