MNI BRIEF: Goolsbee Downplays Fed Disagreement, Hotter CPI
MNI (WASHINGTON) - Federal Reserve officials generally agree that interest rates will come down gradually to levels "well below" where they are now despite some disagreement on the pace of easing needed to keep the economy on an even keel, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said Thursday.
"It's clear that the vast majority of the FOMC in the dot plots believes that over the next 12 to 18 months conditions continue to slowly and gradually improve to something like target and rates gradually come down a fair amount to something well below where they are today," he said in an interview with CNBC.
The official downplayed a hotter-than-expected CPI reading.
"The overall trend over 12, 18 months is clearly that inflation has come down a lot, and the job market has come to a level which is around where we think full employment is. And we'd like to get both of them to stay kind of in this, in a space where they are right now," he said. (See MNI: Job Boom Means Slower Fed Cuts, Pause Possible-Ex-Staff)