Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman said weak employment figures have strengthened her view that the central bank should lower its benchmark rate three times before year-end. Speaking to the Kansas Bankers Association on Saturday, Bowman argued that trimming the federal funds target range—now 4.25% to 4.50%—would prevent further erosion in labour-market conditions and allow policy to return gradually to a neutral stance. Bowman pointed to the Labor Department’s latest report, which revised job creation down to an average 35,000 a month and put unemployment at 4.2%, as evidence of a significant softening in labour demand. She also said core personal-consumption-expenditures inflation, officially running at 2.8%, is “much closer” to the Federal Reserve’s 2% goal once temporary tariff effects are excluded, and that upside price risks have diminished. The governor, who dissented at last month’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting that left rates unchanged, warned that delaying action could force a larger future cut if hiring weakens further. Bowman added that administration moves on deregulation and taxes should offset any drag from the 145% tariffs imposed in April and forecast that tariffs will not lead to prolonged inflation. Separately, Bowman announced the Fed will host a community banking conference in Washington on 9 October to examine possible reforms to the capital framework for smaller lenders.