(Reuters) – Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee said on Sunday that U.S. credit conditions are tight and are getting tighter, and that while there’s no certainty the Fed will cut interest rates next month as is widely expected, not doing so could hurt the job market. “When you set a rate high like we have and hold it there while inflation falls, you’re actually tightening,” Goolsbee said in an interview on CBS’ Face the Nation.
While the economic data is a mix of positive indicators and some that are more concerning, he said, “If you keep too tight for too long, you will have a problem on the employment side of the Fed’s mandate.”
(Reporting by Ann Saphir; Editing by Mark Porter)