Fed’s Bostic calls for 75 basis point interest rate hike in July

REUTERS: Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic, until recently among the central bank’s most dovish policymakers, yesterday said he “fully” supports another three quarters of a percentage point interest rate rise at the Fed’s next policy meeting later this month.

“We can move by 75 basis points at the next meeting and not see a lot of protracted damage to the economy,” Bostic said in an interview with CNBC.

Bostic said a report out earlier yesterday showing U.S. job growth increased more than expected and the unemployment rate remained at 3.6 percent in June “reaffirms that the economy is strong and there is still a lot of momentum in the labour market and that is a good thing.”

Still, he said, the data shows some early signs of a slowing economy. 

“They are really just minor signs and ...what I’m going to be looking for over the next several months is evidence that that slowing is becoming much more sustained and much more significant across the board,” he said.