MNI BRIEF: Fed's Williams-No Urgency To Act Further Right Now

A string of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts have positioned the central bank well to gather more economic data, and there's no urgency to act further now, New York Fed President John Williams said Friday, after data showed inflation and the labor market both softened in November.

"Monetary policy is really well positioned right now to gather more information," he said in a CNBC interview. "I don't personally have a sense of urgency to need to act further on monetary policy further right now because the cuts we've made have positioned us really well."

Technical factors may have boosted November's unemployment rate, which edged up a tenth to 4.6%, he said. The softer-than-expected November CPI report may have also had a downward bias due to collecting prices during holiday sales in the second half of the month and other technical issues, he said. 

"I see the data as broadly consistent with the patterns I've been seeing and consistent with the decision we made to cut interest rates at our last meeting. None of this data is changing my view of the outlook," the vice chair of the FOMC said. (See: MNI INTERVIEW: Fed In Easing Territory After Rate Cuts - Tracy)