Fed's Bullard: Would be surprise if Fed didn't hike rates in December

[November 16, 2016]    LONDON (Reuters) - It would need a surprise for the Federal Reserve not to raise U.S. interest rates next month, one of the central bank's policymakers, James Bullard, said on Wednesday.

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard speaks about the U.S. economy during an interview in New York February 26, 2015. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

"You would have to have a surprise at this point," for the Fed not to increase rates, Bullard told reporters at a UBS banking conference in London.

He said the only reason to hold off would be the kind of big shocks that caused it to pull back in the past, such as widespread global market volatility or bad U.S. jobs data.

(Reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

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