- William Dudley, New York Fed President
In contrast to hawkish member of the Fed, who call for interest rate hike sooner than mid-2015, to ensure a gradual increase of rates as fundamentals strengthen, rather than face the potential of a more abrupt lift in rates to catch up with market forces, New York Fed President William Dudley said it is still too early to raise interest rates as inflation is running below the central bank's target. He also pointed out a potential benefit of allowing the US economy run "slightly hot" for some time given that the long-term unemployment rate is still very high. Dudley added that recent non-farm payrolls data had not altered his policy outlook in any meaningful way. Dudley said he anticipates the first monetary policy tightening to come sometime next year if the American economy grows as expected.
Meanwhile, weekly initial jobless claims rose more than expected in the week ended November 7. The number of applications for state's unemployment benefits increased 290,000 last week, coming in against expectations of 280,000, and up from 278,000 in the preceding week. The four-week moving average of claims, considered to be a better gauge as it strips out week-to-week volatility, also rose, to 285,000 from 279,000 last week. Despite the increases in both initial claims and four-week moving average of claims, jobless claims still remain at multi-year lows.
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