The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart said on Wednesday that the U.S. economy will pick up in the second quarter. He added that a slowdown in the economy in the first quarter was temporary.
Lockhart noted that the June to September period remained a "reasonable time frame" to hike interest rates.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta president believes that more people are not recorded in official unemployment figures.
Lockhart is a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee this year.