01:55 PM EDT, 03/21/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Interest rates, as determined by the US Federal Reserve, will likely be lower than they are now in a year to 18 months, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee told CNBC during an interview on Friday.

However, the number and the likely timing of those cuts will turn on multiple factors - many of which are still unknown, he said.

Goolsbee, a voting member on the Federal Open Markets Committee this year, said during the interview that both bulls and bears can find data supporting their respective expectations, which signals uncertainty. Jobs data, inflation and inflation expectations, and the new tariff all are contributing to that.

If the unemployment rate and job market settles and inflation remains on path to the 2% target, the rates will be coming down in the next year to year and a half, Goolsbee added.

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