Dennis Lockhart said Wednesday the next Federal Reserve meeting could be “historic.”
“I say ‘historic’ because I expect the Committee to consider, as it has in recent meetings, the first increase in the policy interest rate in nearly 10 years. And it’s been seven years since the federal funds rate was first set at effectively zero,” the Atlanta Fed president said in a speech.
Lockhart is also a voting member on the Fed’s policy-making committee.
The Fed’s policymaking committee is slated to meet Dec. 15 and Dec. 16. He also said that, barring any drastic changes in economic data, the case for a liftoff in two weeks is “compelling.”
Lockhart also said the Fed’s labor market goals have been met.
“I think the economy is closing in on full employment,” he said.
“As we approach that condition, I would expect to see confirming evidence that labor markets have tightened up. Such evidence might come in the form of wage growth. The trend in wage growth has been weak for some time, but it may be picking up.”
