A top contender to run the US Federal Reserve threw his support Thursday behind a quarter-point rate cut later this month, claiming he believed inflation would soon cool.

Speaking in New York, US Fed Governor Christopher Waller said economic conditions were such that policymakers should focus their attention on the softening labor market instead.

President Donald Trump, who is mulling who to nominate to replace outgoing Fed chair Jerome Powell, has criticized the bank for moving too slowly to cut rates and boost growth.

The Fed has a dual mandate from Congress to act independently to tackle both inflation and employment, and seeks to balance the two by either hiking or cutting its benchmark lending rate.

“Tariffs have modest effects on inflation, but with underlying inflation close to

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