A September interest rate hike is “very much in play” if the U.S. economy continues to strengthen, though the Federal Reserve could also wait until December to start tightening policy, an influential Fed official said in a newspaper interview. Dudley, a dovish policymaker who is a close ally of Fed Chair Janet Yellen, was said to cite recent U.S. wage gains, income, and household spending as having improved his outlook for the economy.