“If the data continue to evolve in the way they have, I think September is very much in play,” Dudley says.

Bloomberg/New York


The Federal Reserve could begin raising interest rates in September if economic data continue to improve as they have in recent weeks, said William C. Dudley, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
“If the data continue to evolve in the way they have, I think September is very much in play,” Dudley said in an interview with the Financial Times conducted on Friday and published on Sunday.
Since Dudley last spoke publicly on June 5, a number of economic reports have suggested the US consumer is faring better than previously thought.
Employers added 280,000 positions in May, the most in five months. Household spending climbed in May by the most in almost six years, buoyed by gains in incomes.
The US central bank’s policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee voted at its June 16-17 meeting to leave its benchmark federal funds rate unchanged near zero, where it’s been held since 2008.
Forecasts released after the meeting showed 15 of the 17 committee members expected the Fed to begin raising the rate this year. Fed Chair Janet Yellen said in a press conference following the meeting that the Fed would first like to see further improvement in the labour market and have increased confidence in the inflation outlook.

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