PETALUMA, Calif. - After nine months of waiting and balancing consumer prices against the health of the labor market, the Federal Reserve chose to begin the relatively long process of rate cutting to keep both prices down and unemployment down.

Rate cuts, especially when they begin, take time to put up steam and pick up the economy for the better.

At Petaluma's Hansel Ford, the sales manager is happy with any rate cut because more people can qualify for car loans.

Local business impact

"With the interest rates going down, you're gonna see more customers coming in day in and day out because it's gonna be easier to get those customers financed at the end of the day," said Hansel Ford Sales Manager Devyn Nunez.

Berkeley Haas School of Business economist Jim Wilcox says the sales mana

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