With the U.S. October jobs report cementing expectations for a December interest rate rise, the next big fight on the Federal Reserve's policy-setting committee will be over the pace of future increases.

"It is going to be a very hot debate," St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said Friday as he answered audience questions after delivering a speech in his home base. "We certainly said we are going to go gradually. I think there is unanimous support for that on the committee. But what does gradually actually mean?" Bullard votes on policy in 2016.

Investors sharply lifted bets that the central bank will raise the benchmark rate at its Dec. 15-16 meeting after news that employers added 271,000 workers to payrolls, the biggest gain this year. The challenge will be reining in any expectations of a faster pace of tightening than Fed officials themselves foresee.