John Williams
John Williams, the chair of New York's Federal Reserve, said another rate hike before the end of the year seems "reasonable." Getty Images

New York Federal Reserve President John Williams has become the latest policymaker to signal a rate hike before the end of the year as inflationary concerns continue to mount.

Speaking at the London Macro Policy Forum, Williams said investor sentiment shows that "it's likely that another rate hike may be appropriate by the end of the year."

"That seems to me a reasonable way of thinking about it. But we have to see. We're going to collect the data and do what we did between July and September," he added.

Chances of a rate hike after the next meeting now stand above 68%, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool. The figure marks a significant increase compared to last week, then were 55.4%.

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Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr also said on Wednesday that "further policy adjustments are likely to be needed" to reduce price increases.

"Economic growth is strong and the labor market is solid, but inflation is above our 2 percent target and not clearly trending toward target in a timely way," he added. "Moreover, risks to achieving our inflation target have increased, while risks to the labor market have receded."

Elsewhere, Boston Federal Reserve President Susan Collins said she supported last week's rate hike and anticipated the potential needs for more moves of the kind.

In a LinkedIn post, Collins said she now sees "an increased likelihood of future scenarios in which inflation remains notably above 2 percent."

She went on to say that, on the flip side, "labor market conditions seem a bit stronger overall, and the unemployment rate remains low" even though "experiences vary considerably by place and sector."

"With the labor market on a better footing, monetary policy can focus on a timely return to price stability, especially after five and a half years of too high inflation. A somewhat more restrictive federal funds rate will help ensure that inflation durably returns to target," she claimed.

The Fed delivered the widely expected rate hike last week in a unanimous decision. Fed chair Kevin Warsh also struck a hawkish tone in his press conference following the decision, saying the FOMC's "predominant focus is on the price stability side of our mandate." "The plain fact is that inflation is too high, and has been for too long," he added.