Fed’s Goolsbee: Current employment numbers are solid

Commenting on April labor market data, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee told Bloomberg TV that it was a solid report with 175,000 new jobs.

Key takeaways

“We hit a bump on inflation at the start of the year.”

“I don’t like committing even to the next meeting.”

“Fed must get comfort that recent inflation is not a sign of reacceleration.”

“What happened in the job market this year has to be re-normed based on estimates of higher immigration; still trying to analyze that.”

“Monetary policy is restrictive; real federal funds rate is as high as it has been in decades.”

“We have to get more comfort on whether the Fed is still on a path to lower inflation.”

“If the Fed remains restrictive too long, it will have to think about the employment side of the mandate; but current numbers are solid.”

Market reaction

The US Dollar Index recovered from daily lows after these comments and was last seen losing 0.25% on the day at 105.06.