Cautious Fed Sees Labor Market Strong Enough for December Hike
- Minutes detail policy makers’ meeting before U.S. election
- Central bankers say labor market has improved ‘appreciably’
December Fed Hike Likely But Never Say Never: Shaw
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The data-dependent Federal Reserve isn’t likely to contest the evidence: The economy looks strong enough to withstand another interest-rate increase.
It will take a couple of months for U.S. central bankers to figure out the economic policies of President-elect Donald Trump. What they know now is that stock markets are hitting record highs, market-expectations of inflation are moving up and consumer sentiment has improved since the election -- all of it signaling the time is right to raise the benchmark lending rate.