The Federal Reserve should consider another interest rate hike as early as next month if the U.S. economy continues to improve without surprises, Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker told reporters on Tuesday.
“If the economy continues to evolve as I forecast, barring some unforeseen headwinds which are always possible, then I think it’s appropriate to consider every meeting live … and to consider another 25 basis-point rise if the data play out as we expect” with employment and job growth improving and core inflation measures rising as it recently has, he said.
Oil prices, which had fallen over the last year and a half, has “seemingly bottomed out or stabilized”, Harker added, “so I feel reasonably confident that we are moving toward that 2 percent (inflation) target.”