US Fed's Lockhart sees neutral Federal Funds Rate around 4%

BATON ROUGE: The long-term neutral federal funds rate remains around 4 percent, not the lower levels some have said may result from a weakened economy, Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Dennis Lockhart said on Tuesday.

Lockhart said he thought the economy would be strong enough over time to warrant a federal funds rate close to the long-term average. He also said he was confident that workers have not been locked out of jobs because of skills mismatch and will come back to work as conditions improve.- Reuters