Fed chair Jerome Powell says US interest rate cut has nothing to do with election – business live

Fed chair Jerome Powell is delivering remarks right now about the half-point rate cut. Powell suggests, essentially, that the Fed is working toward a so-called “soft-landing” – bringing inflation down without hurting the jobs market.“This decision reflects our growing confidence that within appropriate recalibration of our policy stance, strength in the labor market can be maintained in a context of moderate growth and inflation moving sustainably down to 2,%” Powell said.Powell said that the labor market has “cooled from its formerly overheated state” and inflation has “eased substantially” – a marked difference in tone from press conferences over the last year, where Powell mostly spoke on concerns about price increases.Here’s a quick summary of what happened today:The US Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a sizeable half-point, the first cut since rates hit zero in 2020

What will a Federal Reserve interest rate cut mean for you?

The Federal Reserve announced a half-percentage point interest-rate cut on Wednesday, the first decrease in four years. It’s a moment that many economists see as the end of an era, and the beginning of the end of the central bank’s fight against inflation.The Fed’s prime rate – used to set the rates on everything from mortgages to car loans – has sat at a 20-year high for the last year, making it more expensive to borrow money.This rate cut is a big deal for the economy. But it’ll take some time for American consumers to feel the effects

Albanese government forging ahead with social media age restrictions despite Meta’s new Instagram teen accounts

The Albanese government is forging ahead with its plans for an age restriction on social media despite Meta announcing new restrictions for teens on Instagram, with the communications minister arguing children’s use of social media is unbalanced.On Wednesday Instagram announced changes to teen accounts, including giving parents the ability to set daily time limits for using the app, block teens from using Instagram at certain times and to see accounts their child is exchanging messages with and the content categories they are viewing.Teens under the age of 16 will need parental permission before any of the settings can be changed. Meta said the move had been planned for months, but the announcement came a week after the federal government announced plans to introduce legislation to parliament, by the end of the year, to raise the age children can access social media up to an as-yet-undefined age – likely between 14 and 16.The communications minister, Michelle Rowland, said the government welcomed the announcement, but “it does not negate the government’s intention to introduce legislation this year to mandate a minimum age for access to social media

Meta to put under-18 Instagram users into new ‘teen accounts’

Meta is putting Instagram users under the age of 18 into new “teen accounts” to allow parents greater control over their activities, including the ability to block children from viewing the app at night.The change will apply to new teen users but will also be extended to existing accounts held by teenagers over the next few months.Changes under the teen account setting include giving parents the ability to set daily time limits for using the app, block teens from using Instagram at certain times, see the accounts their child is exchanging messages with and being shown the content categories they are viewing.Teenagers signing up to Instagram are already placed by default into the strictest privacy settings, which include barring adults from messaging teens who don’t follow them and muting notifications at night.However, under the new “teen account” feature users under the age of 16 will need parental permission to change those settings, while 16- and 17-year-olds defaulted into the new features will be able to change them independently

Lancashire frustrate Somerset, Surrey forge ahead of Durham: county cricket – as it happened

The heavy roller, the sun, five penalty runs and a hue and cry over a contentious not out decision in the final overs all added up to a gripping day at Old Trafford in the crucial promotion-relegation headlock.After 21 wickets fell on the first day, only seven fell on the second, as Lancashire played with earthy grit to grind a lead of 292 over Somerset, who are chasing Surrey for a tilt at the title. Josh Bohannon’s 60 and an unbeaten 78 from Luke Wells, plus plucky innings from Rocky Flintoff and Harry Singh, frustrated Somerset, and nostrils later flared when George Balderson was adjudged not out after Craig Overton appeared to throw down his stumps from slip.At the Oval, perennial understudy Ryan Patel hit a merry 134 to give Surrey a vital 153-run first innings lead over Durham. Durham then lost the nightwatcher Callum Parkinson to the first ball of their second innings as the sun dropped and Conor McKerr held a snorter at third slip

Maro Itoje rejects Eddie Jones’ claims he is not suited to England captaincy

Maro Itoje has rejected claims by the former England head coach Eddie Jones that he is “very inward-­looking” and not suited to Test ­captaincy, after being unveiled as Saracens’ skipper.Itoje takes over from Owen Farrell, after the fly-half’s move to Racing 92, in what is his first senior captaincy role. The 29-year-old was earmarked as a future England captain early in his career after bursting on to the Test scene eight years ago but Jones never saw fit to install him in the role, ­claiming in a 2021 book that he had sent Itoje to acting classes in an effort to improve his leadership.“I might be wrong, but I am not sure Maro is a future England captain,” Jones wrote. “He is going to be one of the great players, but Maro is very inward-looking