Fed’s Goolsbee explains vote against rate cut, says central bank should have waited

Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee on Friday explained why he voted against this week’s interest rate cut, saying policymakers should have waited until they had more information before easing further.

“While I voted to lower rates at the September and October meetings, I believe we should have waited to get more data, especially about inflation, before lowering rates further,” the policymaker said in a post on the Chicago Fed’s website.

Goolsbee was one of three Federal Open Market Committee members to vote against the quarter percentage point reduction, the third consecutive easing measure. He was joined by Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid, as well as Governor Stephen Miran, who preferred a steeper cut.

While he has said in the past he sees room for rates to come down further, Goolsbee said a lack of progress on inflation argued against moving now.

“Given that inflation has been above our target for four and a half years, further progress on it has been stalled for several months, and almost all the businesspeople and consumers we have spoken to in the district lately identify prices as a main concern, I felt the more prudent course would have been to wait for more information.” he wrote.

Goolsbee is scheduled to appear on CNBC at 8:30 a.m. ET. He will not be a voter on the FOMC in 2026 but will still participate in meetings.

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