Two of the Federal Reserve’s top staff economists argued for more aggressive action by the U.S. central bank to keep rates lower longer in an effort to drive down unemployment.  

The studies were authored by teams led by William English, head of the Fed's monetary affairs division, and David Wilcox, the central bank's director of research and statistics.

"The studies suggest that some of the most senior Fed staffers see strong arguments for a significantly greater amount of monetary stimulus," Goldman Sachs Chief Economist Jan Hatzius wrote in a research note to clients. His takeaway was that the Fed would likely lower the unemployment threshold to 6.0 percent at its March meeting.