Golden Finance reported that Alliance Bernstein senior economist Eric Winograd wrote that the Fed needs to make progress on inflation and see "some weakness" in the job market before it can cut interest rates again, which may take several months. A rate hike is unlikely as there are no signs of inflation accelerating again. Winograd said that in addition to the strong headline data, the three-month moving average increase in employment was unchanged from November. The unemployment rate edged down to 4.1% from 4.2%. "It has been between 4.0% and 4.2% for the past seven months," Winograd said. "There is no reason to expect anything other than a soft landing that we are currently enjoying."