MNI BRIEF: Fed's Williams Says Every Meeting Live

U.S. interest rates will need to decline toward neutral at some point as inflation verges on 2% and the labor market stays strong, and every FOMC meeting is live, New York Fed President John Williams said Wednesday.      

"Every meeting is from my perspective live. Again, we're getting the risks more in balance, and we have to just see how the data play out," Williams said in an interview on CNBC. The economy is "in a pretty good place" with unemployment staying in the low 4s and inflation coming down to 2% over the next two years, he said. 

Underlying inflation "setting aside the direct effects of tariffs" is on a "very gradual" decline, he said. Housing inflation is coming down but services outside of housing bear watching, Williams said. 

"If you think the neutral rate is somewhere around 1% or a little bit below, we are still in a restrictive stance in monetary policy. And as inflation comes back down to 2%, we're going to need to get interest rates lower than they currently are," he said. "But we've got to be driven by the data." (See: MNI INTERVIEW: US Growth, Jobs Poised For Rebound - Miran)