Strong case for June rates liftoff, says Fed's Lacker

The Federal Reserve will have a "strong" case to hike U.S. interest rates in June, a hawkish Fed official said on Tuesday, dismissing recently weak economic data as transitory and perhaps due to unseasonable weather. Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker, who has long called for a prompt tightening of monetary policy, said consumer spending, the labor market and other economic conditions have improved significantly over the last year. A voting member this year on Fed policy who made many familiar arguments, Lacker predicted more improvement in the labor market and wages in the months ahead, and 2.0 to 2.5 percent GDP growth for the year.

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