TEMPE, Ariz (Reuters) - Markets have lost their "muscle memory" for anticipating moves by the Federal Reserve, but will relearn how to take cues from economic data and central bankers' forecasts once U.S. interest-rate rises get underway, a top Fed official said on Saturday.

"It's not so much poor communication on our part," San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams told reporters in Tempe, Arizona.

Before the Fed's October meeting, many investors had thought it unlikely it would raise rates at all this year, even though most Fed officials themselves thought they would.

The October statement inserted a reference to a possible rate increase at "next meeting," jolting markets into repricing the possibility of a December rate rise.

Once rates start to go up, the Fed's main communications tool for guiding investors on what to expect next will be Fed officials' economic forecasts, published quarterly, he said.

(Reporting by Ann Saphir; Editing by Robert Birsel)