Key insights
- Goolsbee's comments suggest a mixed outlook: a stable but not strong job market alongside persistent inflation concerns. This implies the Fed may maintain its hawkish stance, potentially limiting equity market upside due to continued higher interest rates. The lack of clear direction on inflation adds uncertainty.
May 8 (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee said on Friday that April hiring data shows more stability in the employment sector amid worrisome developments on the inflation front.
The job market has been “stable without being good” and “I still think there’s not a lot of evidence that the job market is falling apart,” the official said in a CNBC interview. “And on the other side of the Fed’s mandate, inflation hasn’t been great, and it’s been going the wrong way lately” and it’s not clear how much higher price pressures will go, he said.