Brexit, Jobs Report Sink Likelihood of Fed Rate Hike

Interest rate may not go up until at least December
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 3, 2016 4:55 PM CDT
Brexit, Jobs Report Sink Likelihood of Fed Rate Hike
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen during a Radcliffe Day event at Harvard University last month.   (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Experts say the US Federal Reserve may wait until after Britain votes on whether it will leave the European Union before it raises the interest rate, Reuters reports. The Fed is meeting June 14, but the so-called Brexit vote isn't until June 23. If Britain leaves the EU, it could destabilize the dollar. That means the Fed, where officials seem to agree a rate hike is called for, would have to wait until at least July. According to CNBC, the entire thing might be moot anyway after Friday's jobs report. May showed the worst monthly job growth in five years, sending the chances the Fed raises the interest rate this summer "into a sinkhole." The market is now predicting a rate hike won't happen until at least December. (More Federal Reserve stories.)

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