Fed's Williams Sees ‘Strong Case’ for Dec. Increase If Data Hold Up
- Recent labor market data have been positive, Williams said
- Doesn't want to signal `mechanical' pace of future Fed action
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There’s a “strong case” for a Federal Reserve interest rate increase in December assuming U.S. economic data continues to be encouraging, San Francisco Fed President John Williams said, adding that the slope of increases after an initial move is “most important.”
The U.S. central bank’s policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee will convene in Washington on Dec. 15-16 to discuss a possible policy move. Most economists in a Bloomberg survey and traders of federal funds futures expect lift-off from near-zero, where the bank’s key lending rate has been since 2008, at that meeting.