(Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Lorie Logan stuck by her view that interest rates should move at a slow pace to a more normal level.
While she described the economy as “strong and stable,” Logan also pointed to “meaningful” risks ahead.
“It’s really important to look ahead as we chart this path toward neutral, and that we do so in a very gradual way to balance the risks that we have,” she said Friday at a conference hosted by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas.
Policymakers last month lowered rates by a larger-than-normal 50 basis points amid signs of weakening in the labor market and as inflation cooled toward the Fed’s 2% target. The neutral level is one where interest rates neither weigh on nor stimulate the economy.
Logan’s remarks on the economy and monetary policy echo ones earlier in the week, when she said there are still upside risks to inflation.
Data released Thursday showed underlying inflation rose more than forecast in September. The so-called core consumer price index — which excludes food and energy costs — increased 0.3% for a second month, disrupting a string of lower readings. The three-month annualized rate advanced 3.1%, the most since May, according to Bloomberg calculations.
“The recent data that we’ve been seeing on inflation has been very welcome,” Logan said, referring to the longer-run trend. “The progress has been very broad based.”
A handful of Fed officials, including New York Fed President John Williams, mostly shrugged off the CPI data and signaled they support continued rate reductions. Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic, however, said he’d be open to skipping a cut at one of the Fed’s two remaining meetings this year.
On Friday, Logan also said banks should make sure they have diverse sources of funding and emphasized that the Fed’s emergency lending facility, the discount window, should be part of that.
Speaking at a conference about women in financial services, Logan lauded the increase in women’s labor force participation since the pandemic, which reached a record in August. She said increased flexibility in the workplace has played a role in women’s ability to join the workforce.
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