(Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday redoubled his calls for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to lower interest rates, noting that payroll processing firm ADP reported that job creation slowed in May.
“ADP number out. ‘Too Late’ Powell must now lower the rate. He is unbelievable. Europe has lowered nine times,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
ADP reported on Wednesday that U.S. private payrolls increased far less than expected in May, increasing by only 37,000 jobs last month after a 60,000 rise in April that was revised downward. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast private employment increasing 110,000 following a previously reported gain of 62,000 in April.
Wednesday’s ADP data came ahead of a more comprehensive employment report that will be released on Friday by the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Trump, a Republican, has hammered Powell for months in often personal attacks, with his calls for the Fed chair’s resignation weighing on U.S. stocks and financial markets.
Trump’s repeated attacks have raised questions about the continued independence of the U.S. central bank under the Trump administration, although the U.S. president last month said he would not remove the Fed chair before his term ends in May 2026.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal, Brendan O’Brien and Katharine Jackson; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Chizu Nomiyama)
