Fed's Lockhart lists three ease scenarios: report (by Greg Robb)

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - More Federal Reserve easing is not likely to be needed, but is available and would be effective if put in place, said Dennis Lockhart, the president of the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank, in an interview Thursday with Dow Jones Newswires. Lockhart said the economy was in a "bit of a slowdown," but added that it was hard to tell if it was temporary. Lockhart set out three scenarios under which he might support additional stimulus: if it seemed the economy was headed back into recession, if the unemployment rate started to rise or if deflation became a threat. None of these events is in his "baseline scenario," Lockhart, a voting member of the Fed's interest-rate setting committee, added. He said the decision last week to extend the central bank's Operation Twist sustained the Fed's current accommodation at a time when it is needed.