Fed chair Jerome Powell blames influx of illegal migrants for rising unemployment rate

By Alex Oliveira Published Sep. 18, 2024, 6:09 p.m. ET

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell blamed the migrant crisis for the nation’s growing unemployment after cutting the benchmark interest rate by 0.5 percentage point on Wednesday for the first time since early days of COVID-19.

“If you’re having millions of people come into the labor force, then — and you’re creating 100,000 jobs — you’re going to see unemployment go up,” Powell told reporters, answering a question about the nation’s current monthly job creation.