Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee called the latest inflation data “borderline disturbing.”
“It’s another distressing report — borderline disturbing,” Goolsbee said in an interview with “PBS NewsHour” on Tuesday.
“We’ve got a real inflation issue on our hands that has been developing,” Goolsbee said. “We’re going to have to deal with that.”
The consumer price index rose 0.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis in October, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Tuesday morning release. That was higher than economists had predicted, and the third straight month of outsized price increases.
Goolsbee said he had not seen drivers of prices like tariffs fade over time like he had hoped. He also said continuously high inflation on services concerned him.
And the Chicago Fed chief said lofty prices are a top issue for many people he meets.
“It’s on everyone’s mind,” Goolsbee said. “It’s on business mind. It’s on nonprofits’ minds. It’s on ordinary consumers’ mind.”
