Economists at Goldman Sachs said they thought there was "a strong case" for the Fed to cut rates at its July 30-31 meeting, but did not change their forecast that the Fed would start cutting rates in September. The latest unemployment and inflation data suggest that the Fed's monetary policy rules call for the federal funds rate to be 4 per cent, compared with the current target range of 5.25-5.5 per cent. As a result, Jan Hatzius, chief economist at Goldman Sachs, said in a note: "We expect rate cuts to begin soon."