The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday made a second consecutive quarter-point rate cut to shield the economy from labor market pressures, underscoring widening rifts among its members.
Policymakers voted 10-2 in favor of lowering the bank's key lending rate to between 3.75% and 4.00%, the Fed said in a statement.
Opposed to the action were Fed governor Stephen Miran, who backed a bigger half-point cut, and Kansas City Fed president Jeff Schmid, who "preferred no change to the target range for the federal funds rate at this meeting," the Fed said.
The decision to cut rates boosts the U.S. economy as businesses digest the effects of President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs, and buys policymakers some more time as they wait for the end of a government shutdown.
Republicans and Democrats remain politically gridlocked almost a month after the start of the shutdown, which has resulted in a suspension of publication of almost all official economic data.
The Fed also announced Wednesday that it would end its policy of shrinking the size of its balance sheet on Dec. 1.
The Fed's balance sheet ballooned in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and has been gradually reduced in recent years.
