US President Donald Trump says economy would ‘rocket’ if Fed cut rates

US President Donald Trump said the Federal Reserve should cut interest rates, saying the economy would take off “like a rocket ship” if they did.

Speaking following the release of US jobs data which showed a strong rebound in hiring in March, Trump said the US central bank “really slowed us down”, CNBC reported.

Trump told a press conference he thought the Fed “should drop rates and get rid of quantitative tightening”, the selling of bonds and securities bought to stimulate the economy after the financial crisis.

The Fed, under the leadership of Trump nominee Jay Powell, raised interest rates four times in 2018.

At its last meeting, the central bank decided to hold interest rates amid a gloomy global economy and trade wars with China.

Today’s figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that wage growth slowed to 3.2 per cent in March compared to a year earlier, from 3.4 per cent in February, but new jobs increased by 196,000. The mixed data will be seen by many as justifying the Fed’s decision to hold rates.

On Thursday Trump announced that he had recommended ally Herman Cain, former chief executive of pizza chain Godfather's, for a position on the board of the Federal Reserve.