NEW YORK |
(Reuters) - An influential Federal Reserve official said he modestly lowered his expectations for inflation in coming months, but added more clarity on the U.S. jobs market and the European crisis was need to take a firmer stance on the health of the U.S. economy.
New York Fed President William Dudley, a close ally of Chairman Ben Bernanke, said on Friday U.S. employment growth has "slowed considerably of late" as the economy has lost momentum.
"Although some of the current uncertainties will take time to resolve, I can imagine material data on a number of dimensions could become available in the coming weeks and months that could lead me to adjust my forecast further," Dudley said in prepared remarks he was to deliver to the Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce via video link.
"I will be paying particularly close attention to whether domestic momentum and hiring picks up now that the pay-back for the mild winter is over, and whether financial conditions, which are heavily influenced at present by developments in Europe, ease or tighten further."
Three consecutive months of soft U.S. jobs growth and the simmering euro zone debt crisis led the U.S. central bank last week to ramp up its monetary stimulus to the stalled economic recovery.
Dudley referenced the Fed policy action, a 6-month extension of a bond maturity-extension program called Operation Twist, but offered no fresh insight on what spurred the Fed to take that particular step instead of others, nor whether more easing might be needed.
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