Fed's Goolsbee: If economy deteriorates, Fed will fix it

In an interview with CNBC on Monday, Federal Reserve (Fed) Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee noted that there is a lot going on in the world, which makes things more complicated for them, per Reuters.

Key takeaways

"The Fed has been in a restrictive posture."

"You only want to be that restrictive if there is fear of overheating; data does not look like the economy is overheating."

"Jobs number were weaker than expected but not looking yet like a recession."

"The Fed does need to be forward looking in making decisions."

"Must be a little careful overconcluding about jobs report."

"Manufacturing sector is a little complicated."

"We expected some weakness in manufacturing due to pandemic effects."

"That said, there are cautionary indicators in other data such as business defaults."

"On the other side, GDP number was a bit stronger than expected."

"Economic growth continues at a steady level."

"The stock market has a lot more volatility than the Fed."

When asked about an emergency cut, "everything is always on the table, including raises and cuts."

"If the economy deteriorates, the Fed will fix it."

"The Fed will respond to conditions."

"I have been saying for some time we are in a balanced risk posture."

"There is some weakness in the jobs market, we have to pay attention to that."

"We are restrictive in real terms at the highest in many decades."

"You only want to be there for as long as you have to."

"If we are not overheating, we should not tighten our restrictiveness in real terms."

Market reaction

The US Dollar (USD) remains under heavy selling pressure following these comments. At the time of press, the USD Index was down 0.9% on the day at 102.30.