Fed's Goolsbee Says Inflation Remains Main Concern Despite Some Improvement in Services Prices

Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee said Thursday that inflation is the central bank's primary concern even as some services prices show modest improvement. In a live CNBC interview from the Cboe trading floor, Goolsbee stated that between the inflation and employment sides of the Fed mandate, the problem clearly lies on the inflation side.

The Commerce Department reported core personal consumption expenditures inflation at 3.4% in May, the highest reading since October 2023.

Goods prices rose 0.4% while services prices increased 0.5%, the largest gain since January. Energy prices jumped 6.5% and transportation services prices accelerated 0.8%. Goolsbee applauded Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh for shortening the FOMC statement and removing forward guidance language.

He said the central bank should streamline communications and avoid routine speculation about the future path of rates, calling such resets healthy. The FOMC next meets July 28-29. Markets priced a 30% chance of a rate hike at that meeting, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.

Goolsbee is a nonvoting FOMC participant in 2026 and will hold a vote in 2027. Separately, Micron shares rose 18% in pre-market trading after the company reported quarterly sales above Wall Street estimates. Qualcomm shares gained 10% after the chipmaker projected more than $15 billion in annual revenues from AI components in data centers by fiscal 2029.

Nasdaq 100 futures rose 2.1% and S&P 500 futures rose 0.7% as of 8:00 a.m. ET. The SOXX index rose 5% and the DRAM index rose 12% in pre-market trading. Brent crude fell 1.4% to below $73 per barrel.