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Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley indicated on Thursday that his concerns about raising the federal funds rate target are no longer as high – adding to the increased likelihood of a rate increase in December.

Dudley told the Economic Club of New York that it is "quite possible that the conditions the [Federal Open Market] committee has established to begin to normalize monetary policy could soon be satisfied," according to The New York Times.

Dudley expressed reservations in August about whether there was still a "compelling" case for a rate increase.

Observers believe the committee will raise the benchmark interest rate after its meeting on Dec. 15-16. The range has been set at 0 to 0.25 percent since 2008.

NAFCU Chief Economist and Director of Research Curt Long noted that the positive jobs numbers for October – a payroll gain of 271,000 and an unemployment level of 5 percent – caused the federal funds futures market to place the odds of a December rate increase at close to 70 percent.