term interest rates only once more in 2004. The policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee meets twice more this year, on Nov. 10 and Dec. 14. A poll by Reuters of major Wall Street bond dealers found 20 out of 22 confident the Fed will boost interest rates another quarter of a percentage point on Nov. 10. However, 14 dealers said they foresaw no additional move after that this year. The monthly jobs report carries special punch because it offers one of the first looks at broad-based economic activity in a month and can set the tone for the data for that period. Economist David Rosenberg of Merrill Lynch said the weak payrolls number was "bound to anchor a soft set of economic data through the month in terms of spending, incomes and production." "For the Fed, it is no longer an open and shut case that they will continue tightening (borrowing costs)," he added. The U.S. central bank has raised short-term interest rates three times this year -- from a 46-year low of 1 percent in June to 1.75 percent at its last meeting on Sept. 21. --More 2325 Local Time 2025 GMT
