Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee shared his upbeat sentiments on the US economy’s direction in an interview with CNBC. He emphasized that the nation is walking the “golden path,” capable of curbing inflation while concurrently staving off a recession.
Goolsbee voiced confidence in the US’s capacity to sidestep a recession, even as Fed contemplates interest rate hikes to bring inflation down. In his words, “I’ve been calling that the golden path and I think it’s possible, but there are a lot of risks and the path is long and winding.”
Highlighting the job market’s resilience, Goolsbee mentioned the latest unemployment rate, which stood at 3.8% last month. This figure is strikingly close to last year’s unemployment rate during a period when inflation was notably higher.
On the topic of interest rates, Goolsbee noted that Fed is getting close to questions about how long to hold , rather than how high.