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Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook said on Thursday that the central bank can take its time to assess a highly unsettled environment before moving interest rates again, amid risks inflation could worsen due to tariffs. “Amid growing uncertainty and risks to both sides of our dual mandate, I believe it will be appropriate to maintain the policy rate at its current level while continuing to vigilantly monitor developments that could change the outlook,” Cook said in a speech at the University of Pittsburgh. “For now, we can afford to be patient but attentive" with monetary policy "well positioned" to deal with what lies ahead, she said.

The U.S. Department of Energy said it has identified 16 federal sites, including storied nuclear research laboratories such as Los Alamos, where tech companies could build data centers in a push to accelerate commercial development of artificial intelligence technology. The sites are “uniquely positioned for rapid data center construction, including in-place energy infrastructure with the ability to fast-track permitting for new energy generation such as nuclear,” the agency said in a statement Thursday. The move follows an executive order signed in January by outgoing President Joe Biden that sought to remove hurdles for AI data center expansion in the U.S. while also encouraging those data centers, which require large amounts of electricity, to be powered with renewable energy.

Mexico celebrated Thursday having dodged the latest round of tariffs from the White House taking aim at dozens of U.S. trading partners around the world, but was also quickly reminded that in a global economy the effects of uncertainty can’t be entirely avoided. President Claudia Sheinbaum said the free-trade agreement signed by Mexico, Canada and the U.S. during Trump’s first administration had shielded Mexico. Now her government will focus on the existing 25% U.S. tariffs on imported autos, steel and aluminum, while accelerating domestic production to safeguard jobs and reduce imports.

President Donald Trump's harsher-than-expected global tariffs sent economists scrambling to revise their economic estimates. They project the U.S. economy faces higher inflation, slower growth, and greater recession risks.

"In my view, there is no need to be in a hurry to make further policy rate adjustments," Jefferson told an Atlanta Fed conference, repeating what has become a well-worn phrase from U.S. central bankers amid a rapid onslaught of trade and other policy changes under the Trump administration. Asked about the sweeping new import levies announced by U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday, Jefferson gave little sense of how much they might in his view add to inflationary pressures or slow the economy.

Ten-year Treasury yields fell below 4% in a classic flight to safety. The post Truckload volumes and bond yields say recession, not inflation, the bigger risk appeared first on FreightWaves.

Oil prices tumbled Thursday amid worries about an escalating trade war from Trump's tariffs, as OPEC and its allies sped up plans to increase output and unwind supply cuts.