Fed not yet decided whether to hike rates in September: Powell

[August 05, 2015]  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Federal Reserve policymakers have not yet decided whether to raise interest rates at a closely watched meeting next month, an influential governor at the U.S. central bank said on Wednesday, adding data on the labor market in particular would be key to that decision.

"Nothing has been decided," Fed Governor Jerome Powell said on CNBC of the central bank's Sept. 16-17 policy meeting. "I haven't made any decisions about what I would support, and certainly the (policy-making) committee hasn't."

He added: "The economy is moving along about as expected ... the labor market continues to be strong." But "more recent data has been mixed," he said, including a weaker than expected reading of employment compensation in the second quarter.

(Reporting by Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
 

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