Golden Finance reported that according to Golden Ten, Gregory Daco, chief economist of Ernst & Young, said that the Fed was cutting interest rates "reactively" rather than proactively, noting that "Powell admitted that if the Fed saw the July employment data first, it might have cut interest rates in July." Data released two days after the end of the July meeting showed that the unemployment rate rose to 4.3%, raising concerns that the Fed waited too long to act. "Fed policymakers must adopt a strong forward-looking framework and abandon the practice of relying on data. Unfortunately, they have not done so so far." Another challenge facing Powell is that Wall Street expects more future rate cuts than Fed policymakers predict. This week, policymakers estimated that there will be two more rate cuts of 25 basis points each before the end of 2024, and four more rate cuts in 2025. The Fed's rate-setting committee is almost evenly divided on the number of additional rate cuts expected this year, with seven policymakers supporting another 25 basis point cut before the end of the year and nine members supporting an additional 50 basis point cut. Two policymakers do not expect any more rate cuts. That path means that while several officials may support a 25 basis point cut this month, a 50 basis point cut would be chosen to avoid further deterioration in the job market.