Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell tied the nation’s cooling job market directly to President Donald Trump’s restrictive immigration policy on Wednesday, a rare instance of the central bank chief singling out White House decisions as a driver of economic weakness.

When pressed by reporters on why hiring has slumped, Powell responded: “That’s much more about the change in immigration,” He continued, “The supply of workers has obviously come way down. There’s very little growth, if any, in the supply of workers. And at the same time, demand for workers has also come down quite sharply, and to the point where we see what I’ve called a curious balance.”

Typically, a balance between job openings and job seekers would be good news. But Powell said the current equilibrium is unhealthy since bo

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