One Federal Reserve leader explained the Fed is only halfway toward being done raising interest rates.
After raising interest rates four times over the past two years, San Francisco Fed President John Williams explained the Federal Open Markets Committee is about halfway there, according to an article by Patrick Gillespie for CNN Money. He explained his view of normal interest rates is around 2.5%.
In June, the Fed voted to raise interest rates for the second time this year. The first rate hike occurred in its March meeting, just after deciding to raise rates three months before in December 2016.
Williams explained that as the economy continues to improve, it doesn’t need as much help from the Fed, according to the article.
From the article:
“The economy is doing well — we're adding a lot of jobs and unemployment is low and falling,” Williams told Quest on Tuesday. “We've got a lot of momentum.”
The unemployment rate has fallen from 10% just after the Great Recession all the way to 4.3% in July. Williams expects it to go as low as 4%, a level not seen since 2000, during the dot-com bubble.
To watch the whole interview, click here.
Just when those interest rates will occur is still up in the air. The latest minutes from the Federal Reserve shows the members are split on whether the central bank will raise interest rates again this year.
