Fed Stands by Openness to Cut Rates in Semi-Annual Report

The Federal Reserve reiterated its openness to cutting interest rates to extend the longest U.S. economic expansion on record while noting that the pace of growth had slowed in the second quarter of 2019.

“Data for the second quarter suggest a moderation in GDP growth -- despite a pickup in consumption -- as the contributions from net exports and inventories reverse and the impetus from business investment wanes further,” the Fed said in its semi- annual Monetary Policy Report to Congress released Friday in Washington.