Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said favorable reports this week on U.S. consumer prices and retail sales "tell me the economy is on the path I expected or a little stronger" and that he could be persuaded that a March rate hike is appropriate.
"Overall, I still feel what I saw at the beginning of the year as the path for the economy is what we are experiencing. I premised two rate moves on that outlook, he said in a televised interview. "I could probably go either way at this point based on what we have seen in recent data. I would caution everyone, however, not to overreact to one month's data."
