Fed’s Schmid Says ‘We Are Not Quite There’ in Cooling Inflation

Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City President Jeffrey Schmid signaled he’s not ready to support a reduction in interest rates with inflation above target and the labor market still healthy despite some cooling.

In a speech to the Kansas Bankers Association, Schmid said the recent decline in inflation has been “encouraging” and further reports of low price pressures would add to his confidence that inflation was on a path to the central bank’s 2% target, and to therefore lower interest rates.

“We are close, but we are still not quite there,” Schmid said. He didn’t give a view on when ...