Fed's Mester: Further gradual interest-rate rises will be needed

Delivering her prepared remarks in Pittsburgh, Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said that the Federal Reserve should stick to its plan to raise interest rates gradually to keep the economy from overheating, as reported by Reuters.

Key quotes (via Reuters):

• Favor beginning to trim Fed's balance sheet in near future
• Expect U.S. GDP to grow above 2 pct for next year
• Hurricane in Gulf will likely dampen growth in current quarter
• Rebuilding after hurricane will likely add to growth in subsequent quarters
• Strengthening business investment, activity an encouraging sign
• Mounting political, fiscal policy uncertainty is tempering business optimism
• Expect unemployment rate to stay below 4.75 pct
• Attributes slow wage growth more to slow productivity growth than slack in labor market
• Expect inflation to return to 2 pct target over next year or so