(Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said favorable inflation data, and not worries about the labor market, are what convinced him to support policymakers’ decision to lower interest rates by a half percentage point this week.

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“What’s got me a little more concerned is inflation is running softer than I thought,” Waller said Friday in an interview on CNBC.

Waller’s remarks come two days after the Fed surprised many economists by making an aggressive to start to a new easing cycle for monetary policy. Policymakers also released projections signaling a slim majority favored cutting rates by an additional half-point over their two remaining sessions this year.

In its statement Wednesday, the Fed’s rate-setting panel said they now see the risks to inflation and to the US labor market are now “roughly in balance.”

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