MNI BRIEF: Fed's Bostic Wants More Data To Confirm Sept Cut

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic said Wednesday recent data has pulled forward his view on when the Fed should first start lowering interest rates, but added that further data could confirm his bias toward waiting longer if it looks like inflation is stickier and the labor market is holding up well.

Inflation has "come down faster than I expected and actually I didn't expect the unemployment rate to move as far as it had. So, both of those would suggest that we're closer to where we want to be than I had anticipated before, but suggested we should move our policy action closer," Bostic said at an event with the Stanford Club of Georgia and the Stanford Black Alumni Association, suggesting openness to lowering the fed funds rate in September.

But Bostic said he wants to see more data before the next FOMC meeting, suggesting he is perhaps more hawkish than some other officials. "If I'm going to err on one side, it's going to be waiting longer, make sure that we don't have that up and down" on interest rates, he said, emphasizing that is not his baseline outlook. (See: MNI INTERVIEW: Fed Likely To Make Series of 25bp Cuts - Blinder)