Fed’s Goolsbee Praises ‘Good’ Inflation Report, Wants More Data

(Bloomberg) — Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee lauded the November inflation report, which showed a cooling in price pressures, saying it contained a “lot to like.”

“I realize it’s just one month, and you never want to hinge too much on a single month, but that was a good month,” Goolsbee said Thursday on Fox Business.

The Chicago Fed chief dissented against the majority decision to cut interest rates at the Fed’s November meeting, preferring to hold rates steady because he was concerned about inflation that was still above the central bank’s 2% target. Goolsbee later said he wanted to see more economic data before feeling confident that inflation was coming down substantially enough to warrant more rate cuts.

A Bureau of Labor Statistics report released earlier Thursday showed that underlying inflation rose last month at the slowest annual pace since early 2021. The overall CPI climbed 2.7% in the year through November, down from 3% in the 12 months through September. But the figures were muddled by the government shutdown, economists warned.

Goolsbee said he would be comfortable lowering rates “a fair bit” if employment remains stable and inflation is on a path to the Fed’s goal.

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