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MNI: Fed's Goolsbee - Disinflation On Track Even If Prices Bounce

FED
  • (MNI) - U.S. inflation is likely to keep falling in a way that allows the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates even if the road to the Federal Reserve's 2% target proves a bit bumpy, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said Wednesday.
  • "Over the past seven months core PCE inflation has been running at the Federal Reserve’s 2% target or even below. Rate cuts should be tied to confidence in being on a path toward the target. I don’t support waiting until inflation on a 12-month basis has already achieved 2% to begin to cut rates," Goolsbee said in prepared remarks to the Council on Foreign Relations.
  • "Even if inflation comes in a bit higher for a few months (as many forecasts suggest), it would still be consistent with our path back to target."
  • He cited a range of reasons for expecting U.S. disinflation to continue despite a stronger-than-expected CPI report for January, including the prospect of a reversal of robust shelter costs, which jumped 0.6% in January and contributed to over two-thirds of the headline gain in consumer prices.

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