Job market is strong, Philadelphia Fed's Harker says as he backs rate forecast -- MarketWatch

Speaking after the release of the latest figures on employment, Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker said job creation is still strong. "We had 138,000 jobs in May, which is a good number," he said at the Pennsylvania Economic Association Annual Conference in Reading (https://philadelphiafed.org/publications/speeches/harker/2017/06-02-17-the-intrinsic-value-of-inclusive-growth). "The 100,000-jobs-a-month rate is going to be more than sufficient to keep up with population growth. That's more or less the rate we'll need in a normal, healthy economy." Harker says he still thinks three rate hikes of 25 basis points each as appropriate for the year.

-Steve Goldstein

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 02, 2017 13:06 ET (17:06 GMT)