Fed's Goolsbee: No sign economy is overheating despite strong jobs numbers

WASHINGTON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - There is no evidence the U.S. economy is overheating again despite a blowout December jobs report, Chicago Fed president Austan Goolsbee said Friday, adding he still expects it will be appropriate to lower interest rates further.

"Is there evidence of overheating of the economy? So far, in recent months, there is a not a lot of evidence," Goolsbee said on CNBC, noting that the Fed's preferred measure of inflation had run 1.9% over the past six months, while wage growth was in line with the Fed's 2% inflation goal. Goolsbee spoke after new government data showed the economy added 256,000 jobs in December and the unemployment rate fell to 4.1%.

(Reporting by Howard Schneider)

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