Fed’s Goolsbee: strong US jobs data may not mean rate cuts should wait

Chicago Federal Reserve (Fed) Bank President Austan Goolsbee said on Friday that he does not take the strong January US job growth as a reason for waiting to cut interest rates, but rather as a comfort that the labor market is not ready to crack, per Wall Street Journal (WSJ). 

Key quotes

“We wouldn’t want to make much of any one month, but the continued strength of the labor market, if that continues, would lessen my worry that the job market side of our mandate is deteriorating.”

“Weakness in overall hours worked suggests that this wasn’t as strong as that headline number suggested.”

"The longer the economy continues to grow and add jobs solidly with declining inflation, the more that Fed officials may have to revise their view about the potential for more noninflationary growth due to gains in worker productivity.”

Market reaction

The US Dollar Index (DXY) is trading higher on the day at 104.06, as of writing.