Fed's Mester says U.S. economic data consistent with higher rates

NEW YORK- Cleveland Federal Reserve President Loretta Mester said current U.S. economic data, including the September payrolls report released on Friday, were consistent with the U.S. central bank considering an increase in interest rates. "We have made progress on both (of the Fed's) mandates," Mester, who dissented with two other Fed officials at the September policy meeting, told reporters after a speech at an event organized by the Manhattan Institute. She said the case for a second rate increase, after the Fed raised interest rates last December for the first time in a decade, "has strengthened." "A gradual path of higher rates is appropriate," she added. -Reuters