Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said he’s predicting the central bank’s first interest-rate rise will happen in the first quarter of next year as unemployment falls and inflation quickens.

Speaking on Fox Business Network, Bullard said the U.S. jobless rate may fall below 6 percent and inflation rise near 2 percent by the end of this year. He said markets may not be fully appreciating how close the Fed is to reaching it goals.

Bullard, who is not a voting member of the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee this year, won’t vote again until 2016.

Commerce Department figures today showed the price measure tied to consumer spending watched by the Fed rose 1.8 percent from a year earlier. The Fed’s inflation goal using this measure is 2 percent.