Federal Reserve officials on Wednesday talked up recent data on the U.S. economy and said they reinforced the case for raising interest rates, though they stopped short of committing to liftoff at their next meeting on Dec. 15 and 16.
"I'm comfortable with moving off zero soon, conditioned on no marked deterioration in economic conditions," Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said in New York on Wednesday. "Given my reading of current conditions and my outlook views, I believe it will soon be appropriate to begin a new policy phase."
Investors are betting that the central bank next month will lift rates for the first time since 2006 after a solid U.S. employment report Nov. 6, ending a seven-year period of holding the benchmark federal funds rate near zero.
Read Thursday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.