Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee praised the November inflation report, stating it showed signs of easing price pressures with "many positive signals." "While this is just one month's data and we shouldn't overinterpret short-term fluctuations, the November figures are indeed encouraging," Goolsbee said in an interview on Thursday.
During the Fed's November policy meeting, most members voted in favor of rate cuts, but Goolsbee dissented, preferring to hold rates steady due to inflation remaining above the central bank's 2% target. He later emphasized that more economic data is needed to confirm inflation has sustainably cooled enough to justify rate reductions.
Earlier on Thursday, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that core inflation slowed to its lowest annual pace since early 2021. The headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.7% year-over-year in November, down from 3% in September. However, economists cautioned that government shutdown disruptions may have affected data accuracy.
Goolsbee noted that if the labor market remains stable and inflation continues trending toward the Fed's target, he would be open to "moderate" rate cuts.
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