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Fed's Schmid signals open mind on September rate cut

"We've got some data sets to come in before September," Schmid said in an interview with broadcaster CNBC at the start of the annual global central bankers' conference hosted by the regional Fed bank in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, in reference to the Fed's next policy meeting on Sept. 17-18. "It bears looking harder at it," he said of the unemployment rate. The U.S. central bank is widely expected to begin reducing its benchmark policy rate at its upcoming meeting, with most Fed officials buoyed by encouraging inflation data and increasingly anxious about the health of the job market.

What to look for at Fed's Jackson Hole symposium

Central bankers from around the world fly into Jackson Hole, Wyoming, this week to attend what has become the globe's premier economic gathering, the Kansas City Federal Reserve's annual symposium in Grand Teton National Park. The event draws keen investor attention, and - depending on what the world's most influential monetary policymakers say in formal remarks and in interviews on the sidelines - sometimes delivers a rough ride for markets. In recent years the guest list of about 120 has included most of the Fed's 19 policymakers, and a few dozen central bankers from Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas and elsewhere.