Fed’s Goolsbee sees mixed signals in latest CPI data

Investing.com -- Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee expressed both encouragement and concern about the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) data on Friday.

Speaking to Yahoo News, Goolsbee pointed out that services inflation remains problematic, stating it is "not tame" and "pretty high" in the latest CPI figures. He described the elevated services inflation as "worrisome."

The U.S. consumer price index rose 2.4% in January compared to the same time a year ago, down 0.3 percentage point from the prior month and the lowest since May 2025.

The Chicago Fed president indicated that the U.S. economy is not currently on track to reach the Fed's 2% inflation target, noting that inflation appears "stuck around 3%."

Despite these concerns, Goolsbee maintained that interest rates "can still go down," though he emphasized the need to see further progress on inflation before such moves. He expressed expectations that improvement in inflation data would materialize.

Regarding monetary policy, Goolsbee admitted uncertainty about the current level of restrictiveness, stating, "I don't know how restrictive Fed policy is."

On the labor market, he characterized conditions as "steady" with only "modest cooling" taking place. Goolsbee identified U.S. consumers as "the strongest thing in the U.S. economy" and predicted that consumer strength would persist if the job market remains stable and inflation eases.

Goolsbee also expressed hope that the economy has already experienced the "peak impact of tariffs" on inflation

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