Fed’s Goolsbee: Powell has done a great job

Federal Reserve (Fed) Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee said in an interview with CNBC on Thursday that the job market remains strong, following the release of the weekly Initial Jobless Claims report, which came in below forecasts.

Key takeaways

I'm not surprised by low claims data.

Data points to stability in job market.

There is still strength in jobs and overall growth is good.

The most important thing facing fed is need to get inflation back to 2%.

Rates can still go down a fair amount but need firm evidence of inflation retreat.

Expects to see Fed rate cuts this year, but needs data to affirm outlook.

Best thing about recent inflation data shows possible waning of tariff impact.

Services inflation not yet under control.

There's a lot of blame to go around for pandemic inflation surge.

Fed moved too slowly to combat inflation in pandemic.

Powell has done a great job navigating multiple challenges.

Growth is solid.

Infringing on central bank independence leads to high inflation."