Fed member calls for more US economic stimulus

A Federal Reserve official has called for more “monetary accommodation” to tackle surging unemployment and the country's creaking mortgage market.

In a meeting at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York last night, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans called for "increasing amounts of policy accommodation", according to Bloomberg.

Evans, who said his stance is at odds with the "consensus" view on the rate-setting committee, advocated more asset purchases including mortgage-market securities to ease problems in the housing market.

He also repeated his proposal for the Fed to keep interest rates at their record low until the unemployment level - currently at a record 9% - starts to fall.

Evans voted against the Fed's decision in November to maintain, rather than raise, its current level of stimulus.

But Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said after the November Federal Open Market Committee meeting the central bank may now look to take additional growth-boosting steps, including the purchase of mortgage bonds.

Meanwhile a spate of upbeat economic data released today, including better-than-expected retail sales figures and falling producer price inflation, failed to lift markets with the the Dow Jones down 0.5% in morning trading.