Fed's Powell puts odds of Sept rate hike at about 50%

Washington

THE chances are about 50-50 that the US economy will improve enough for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in September, as the job market improves and signs of wage growth emerge, Fed governor Jerome Powell said.

Speaking at a The Wall Street Journal event in Washington on Tuesday, he said his forecast assumes stronger growth than in the first half of the year, growth in the labour market and a "greater basis for confidence" in inflation returning to 2 per cent.