Bullard says Fed needs to see pick-up in growth “arithmatic getting harder and harder”

Bullard falls on the dovish side of the Fed these days but his comments likely speak to the core of the Fed. Coming into the year, they were looking for 3% growth but that has been downgraded to 2.5%. Even that is looking tough to achieve.
There were positive signs of H2 growth earlier this week but the Fed wants to be sure at the Sept 18 FOMC. More comments from Bullard:

• Inflation is still below target
• Unemployment coming down is good news
• Fed watching mortgage rates closely but sees only modest impact on housing for now
• General direction of housing market should be pretty strong
• Timing of any future tapering would make a difference ‘on the margin’