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The United States central bank lowered interest rates on midweek, marking the second rate cut in the current year during economic turbulence stemming from the federal government shutdown and trade duties.

Decision Comes at Extraordinary Time for Federal Reserve

The move to cut the benchmark interest rate by a 0.25% to a range of 3.75% to 4% comes at an extraordinary juncture for the Fed. The institution has been under immense pressure to lower borrowing costs despite ongoing price increases.

Fed Statement Notes Labor Market Shifts

In a statement, the Federal Reserve said that the jobless rate had increased but stays modest. “Job gains have slowed,” the release notes. “Price increases has moved up and stays moderately high.”

Federal Closure Complicates Central Bank’s Task

The continuing government stoppage, now one of the longest in US history, has also hindered the central bank’s task. Gathering of key financial statistics has been suspended without a timeline as staff at the Bureau of Labor Statistics are on leave during the shutdown.

Data Gap Affects Policy Decisions

The Fed usually analyzes BLS data to assess employment trends, such as the number of new jobs added to the economy and the current jobless percentage. The last jobs report was released in the beginning of last month, before the shutdown, and provided a somewhat gloomy overview of the jobs market in August.

The figure of jobs added to the economy in the summer month was lower by over 100k since the spring, and joblessness rose to 4.3% – the peak since three years ago.

Private Data Indicate Continued Slowdown

Though the bureau was set to publish last month’s employment data in the start of last month, it halted its publication once the closure started. Private payroll firm a leading payroll processor indicated recently that the private sector eliminated 32,000 jobs in September, a sign that the employment landscape is still decelerating.

“Both the supply and demand for workers has fallen significantly,” Fed chair the Fed chairman said earlier this month, which he had earlier attributed stems from trade and immigration measures.

Price Data Reveals Gradual Increase

Though the bureau’s employment data has been suspended, the agency still issued its inflation report for September that indicated that prices are rising, although gradually. Prices rose 3% over the past twelve months, the highest since the start of the year. In spring, the yearly price increase was 2.3%, the minimum it has been since three years ago. The Fed’s target price increase is two percent.