Kocherlakota issues statement on his FOMC dissent (by Steve Goldstein)

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- In an unusual move, Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota issued a statement explaining why he was one of three Federal Open Market Committee members that dissented from Tuesday's vote to say that low rates would be extended through 2013. Kocherlakota explained that since the Fed adopted QE2 in November 2010, the central bank used the "extended language" for forward rate guidance, which was meant to be "three to six months." He said the macroeconomic data didn't warrant the change, as personal consumption expenditure inflation rose notably in the first half of 2011 and unemployment, "while disturbingly high," has fallen since November. "Going forward, my votes on monetary policy will continue to be based on the evolution of the data on PCE inflation and its components, medium-term PCE inflation expectations, and unemployment," he said, also stressing that he didn't speak for fellow dissenters Richard Fisher and Charles Plosser.