Fed's Rosengren backs more easing if growth lags (by Greg Robb)

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - More easing steps could be advisable, especially if growth doesn't pick up or slows down, said Eric Rosengren, the president of the Boston Federal Reserve Bank, on Tuesday. "If real GDP does not grow more rapidly and unemployment remains at its current unacceptably high level, monetary policy may need to be more accommodative," Rosengren said in a speech to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research in London. While there have been some positive trends in some recent data, the Fed must "avoid complacency", he said. Rosengren, who is not an FOMC voted this year, said the Fed should also not be quick to start to exit from its ultra-low interest rate policy until it is confident that the labor market is healing. "Even if growth should improve more than expected in the U.S., the country will likely remain far from what anyone would consider full employment - so in my view policy accommodation should only be removed once it is clear that the Fed's dual mandate can be achieved within a reasonable period of time," he said