(Reuters) – Chicago Fed president Austan Goolsbee said it is “undeniable” that the slowdown in U.S. inflation is a trend rather than a momentary blip, despite a recent string of economic data showing persistent pressure on some prices, the Financial Times reported on Monday.
“There is a lot saying that inflation is trending down compared with what it has been and that’s what we want,” Goolsbee said in an interview with the Financial Times.
“It’s undeniable this is a trend. It wasn’t a one-month blip… we have to hope and keep an eye out to make sure that continues,” he said.
Goolsbee denied that progress was stalling on getting inflation back to the U.S. central bank’s 2% target and cautioned against tying forthcoming monetary policy decisions to a narrow set of data, the newspaper said.
The Chicago Fed president acknowledged a reversal in rental and other housing inflation after months of easing was a “negative surprise” meriting a “proper element of caution”, according to the report.
(Reporting by Jose Joseph in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Chopra)
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