Fed's Williams: The "wealth gap" among American families makes the December rate cut a "dilemma".

On November 10, New York Fed President Williams pointed out that data and conversations with community leaders indicate that many low-income families are facing a payment capability crisis. The so-called “divergence” behavior of American households may become a key factor affecting whether they support a rate cut by the Fed in December. Discussing the decision for the December meeting, Williams stated, “The essence of the current situation is that inflation is high and there are currently no signs of a decline, while the economy shows a certain resilience.” Although the U.S. labor market is still “gradually cooling,” “there has not been a more severe shift.” Unlike earlier this year, “no one is really talking about a recession now.” The performance of the U.S. economy is better than many, including Williams, had feared. In April of this year, he stated that Trump's tariffs could push inflation to 4% and cause economic growth to be “slightly below 1%”. (Jin10)