“It’s at least promising that this week we got inflation numbers that show inflation is coming down at a pretty rapid clip,” Goolsbee said Friday in an interview with Fox News. “It’s still higher than where we want it but it’s making progress.”
He reiterated comments he made last week that policymakers are on a “golden path” to containing inflation without triggering recession.
Fed officials are expected to raise rates by 25 basis points at their meeting this month after pausing their 15-month tightening campaign in June while at the same time indicating that two more increases were likely this year.
The slowdown in the pace of hikes came as inflation cooled from a high reached last year. But fresh data Wednesday that showed inflation slowed to the weakest pace since 2021, have raised doubts that policymakers will opt for more rate hikes beyond that.
Late Thursday, Governor Christopher Waller said he expects two more rate increases this year to bring the inflation rate down to the Fed’s 2% target, though more good data on prices could obviate the need for the second hike.