By Howard Schneider

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Federal Reserve Vice Chair Philip Jefferson said on Monday he expects U.S. economic growth to continue at about a 1.5% pace for the rest of the year, with the job market facing potential stress if not supported by the central bank.

In remarks prepared for delivery at a Bank of Finland conference in Helsinki, Jefferson said he supported a quarter point reduction at the Fed’s Sept. 16-17 policy meeting as a way to balance the risk of continued above target inflation with what he sees as rising threats to the job market.

“The labor market is softening, which suggests that, left unsupported, it could experience stress,” Jefferson said, adding he anticipated inflation to begin to ease back to the Fed’s 2% target after this year.

The impacts of

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