(Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee said progress on inflation has stalled, meriting a pause to allow incoming data to provide more insight into how the economy evolves.

A recent report showed inflation rose by more than forecast in March, marking the third straight month of disappointing price data after rapid declines last year.

“So far in 2024, that progress on inflation has stalled,” Goolsbee said Friday in remarks prepared for an event in Chicago. “You never want to make too much of any one month’s data, especially inflation, which is a noisy series, but after three months of this, it can’t be dismissed.”

Fed officials have said they will need to see more data to become confident enough that inflation is headed to their 2% target before starting to cut interest rates. Investors have dramatically pared bets on easing since the beginning of the year, with markets now seeing one or two rate cuts as likely in 2024, down from as many as six a few months ago.

“Right now, it makes sense to wait and get more clarity before moving,” Goolsbee said.

Read More: Fed Resets Clock on Cuts and Questions If Rates Are High Enough

He also said the Fed needs to determine whether strong growth and labor-market figures are a sign of an overheating economy that’s driving up inflation. He cautioned that those data may not be the best measures of overheating, especially amid supply-side improvements such as untangling supply chains and rising productivity growth.

The Chicago Fed chief reiterated that persistent housing inflation remains the main problem, though he also acknowledged an uptick in services inflation in March. 

Goolsbee, who doesn’t vote on monetary policy decisions in 2024, said in March that he favored three rate cuts this year.

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