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Will the Fed cut rates in March? Economist says not likely

An ag economist says he doesn’t expect any policy changes from the Federal Reserve during its March meeting this week.

University of Missouri’s Ben Brown says several recent economic reports indicated weaker conditions, slowing consumer demand, and some softening in the job market.

“My expectation is they will hold those interest rates constant,” he said. “However, it is probably setting us up to see more concern about the expectations of future economic activity.”

Brown says confidence in the broader consumer economy is very weak. “Consumers have concerns about economic health, high levels of future inflation, and job security.”

He tells Brownfield, “Those are all things you don’t necessarily want to see because that creates challenges down the road, however in the short-term this probably means that we’re taking some interest rate hike possibility off the table.”

Brown says it’s likely interest rate cuts will occur later in the year.