Fed's Dudley: 'Further improvements' in US labour market needed before hike

Rate rise this year still possible

William Dudley, president of the New York Federal Reserve, said improvements in employment and inflation figures are needed before a rate hike in the US, but does not rule out a rise this year.

Dudley (pictured) said a rate hike before the end of this year is still on the cards, but the Fed must be sure it can reach its inflation target before making the move. Speaking at a conference in Washington, Dudley justified keeping rates on hold in September, saying: "To me the issue was not financial market turbulence but China and the risk that [a slowdown] could come back to the US and make it more difficult to achieve our objectives. "It is very clear that we want to see further improvement in the labour market so we can be confident that inflation will return to 2% in the mediu...