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Janus' Gross: Jobs data sufficient for Sept rate hike

Bill Gross: Jobs data sufficient for Sept. or Dec. hike
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Bill Gross: Jobs data sufficient for Sept. or Dec. hike

August's job number is sufficient proof enough for the Fed to raise interest rates in either September or December, Bill Gross said Friday. (Tweet This)

"The jobs number was mediocre, but decent, and probably in terms of Janet Yellen and the Fed, sufficient for either September or December," the bond guru told CNBC's "Power Lunch."

Gross said that near-zero percent interest rates have exerted a negative influence on the economy, albeit a positive one on equity markets. That negative influence has destroyed business models for insurance companies and pension funds, he said.

"We have a very positive monetary policy that has stimulated asset markets, but they [Fed] are now infringing on the ability of an economy to grow in real terms," he said.

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Earlier this week, he said the Federal Reserve may have missed the opportunity to hike rates earlier this year and doing so now could create "self-inflicted financial instability."

The Fed meets Sept. 16-17 and could announce the first interest rate hike in more than nine years, as many on Wall Street have speculated.

Gross, who runs the $1.5 billion Janus Global Unconstrained Bond Fund, has long called for the U.S. central bank to raise interest rates.

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The Fed seems intent on raising the federal funds rate at its policy meeting this month if only to prove that it can begin the journey to normalization, said Gross.

—Reuters contributed to this report.

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