CHICAGO Federal Reserve Bank President Austan Goolsbee said on Thursday the US economy looks like it is back on track to 2 per cent inflation after a bump up earlier this year, suggesting he is gaining confidence the time will soon be ripe to cut interest rates.
“My view is, this is what the path to 2 per cent looks like,” Goolsbee told reporters in a group interview at the bank.
A government report earlier on Thursday showing consumer prices unexpectedly dipped in June from May was “excellent” news and along with May’s reading suggested stronger-than-expected inflation prints in January were just a “bump in the road” rather than a reversal of progress, he said.
Thursday’s report also showed a long-awaited easing in housing and rent inflation that he said was “profoundly encouraging.”
Goolsbee declined to say whether he would push for a rate cut when the Fed next…