MNI BRIEF: Daly Says Fed Has Work Left, Undecided On Hike

San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said Thursday that while inflation and job growth are coming down as expected, more work remains to balance the economy and she wants more evidence before deciding about whether to raise interest rates further.

“Inflation is coming down, but it’s still too high,” she told Yahoo! Finance. The CPI report out today is consistent with the gradual slowdown predicted by the Fed, she said. She made a similar point about recent job reports, saying that while hiring is slowing monthly gains around 200,000 are double what's considered sustainable.

"I see slowing in the economy, but not there yet, and that’s what my contacts across the district tell me," Daly said. “Yes the economy is slowing down, it’s less frenzied, but boy it’s still hard to find workers.”

The Fed has "more work to do," Daly said, adding she hasn't decided yet on whether to support another rate hike next month or how she will fill out her economic forecast. Officials are still figuring out if policy is "sufficiently restrictive," she said. She also suggested the Fed could keep rates at their peak for longer and doesn't see conversations about potential cuts until next year. {See: MNI INTERVIEW: Fed More Comfortable Guiding Rate Cuts-Sheets)