Federal Reserve Watch for Oct. 8: Waller Says Further Rate Hikes Needed, Suggests October Hike Not Certainty
MT newswire2026/10/08 18:5802:58 PM EDT, 10/08/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Fed Governor Christopher Waller (voter) said that further rate increases are likely needed to bring inflation down to the 2% target but suggested that the timing of those increases does not need to be at back-to-back meetings, allowing for the possibility that rates could remain unchanged at the Oct. 27-28 FOMC meeting. Recent comments of note: (Oct. 7) Minutes of the Sept. 15-16 FOMC meeting showed that most participants expected another rate hike would be needed this year to manage inflation expectations and prevent energy and AI-led inflation from spreading more broadly to other sectors of the economy. (Oct. 2) Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan (voter) said that the target range for the federal funds rate need to be raised by another 50 basis points to slow inflation but added that the higher yields currently being seen could do some of the FOMC's job of tightening policy. (Oct. 1) Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson (voter) said that he supported the interest rate increase at the September FOMC meeting but said that it may take time for the committee to decide on a further increase and that more data will allow the FOMC to make the correct decision. (Sept. 30) Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari (voter) said that he expects the FOMC will need to raise rates one more time in 2026, noting that the recent milder inflation data did not alter his impression that price pressures are too high and need to be brough down. (Sept. 30) Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee (nonvoter) noted a growing divergence between how households view the US economy and what the hard data shows, complicating the Fed's job and putting the emphasis on incoming information. (Sept. 30) Fed Governor Lisa Cook (voter) repeated that she remains committed to lowering inflation, which has been elevated for too long.
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