Fed's Goolsbee: Job market remains steady and around full employment

Federal Reserve (Fed) Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee told CNBC on Thursday that the job market remains steady and around full employment, per Reuters.

Key takeaways

"Unemployment claims and other indicators support view of stable job market."

"Prior to April 2 tariffs, it seemed the Fed was on solid ground on both of its mandate."

"The Fed needs clarity that there will not be an increase in inflation, and if one does come that it will transitory."

"Hope is that there will not be much inflation from tariffs, but there needs to be a few months of clarity."

"Optimistic about recent inflation readings but the Fed needs to be sure, particularly given coming deadlines like July 9 on tariffs."

"Economists are unanimous that monetary policy needs to be free of political interference."

"It is possible that tariffs will have only a modest impact on inflation."

"If inflation stays in the range of 2% and the uncertainty is resolved, the Fed is on a path to lowering rates."

"An early announcement by United States President Donald Trump of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's replacement would have no impact on the Federal Open Market Committee."

"Fed minutes and transcripts show that monetary policy decisions are not about politics and elections."

Market reaction

The US Dollar remains under persistent selling pressure on Thursday. At the time of press, the USD Index was down 0.5% on the day at 97.22.

These comments from Goolsbee received a neutral score of 5.2 from FXStreet Fed Speech Tracker. Meanwhile, FXStreet Fed Sentiment Index sits at 107.5, reflecting a slightly hawkish overall Fed tone.