Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee said on Thursday that the latest U.S. inflation data offered an encouraging sign on services inflation, but stressed that underlying price pressures remain too high and continue to move in the wrong direction, Reuters reported.Speaking in an interview with CNBC, Goolsbee said core inflation remains well above the Federal Reserve's target, making inflation the central bank's primary concern at present. He noted that while the U.S. labour market has shown resilience, inflation remains the bigger challenge among the Fed's dual mandates of price stability and maximum employment.Goolsbee refrained from indicating whether he favoured another interest rate hike or a continued pause, saying he preferred to avoid fuelling speculation about the future path of monetary policy. He said his assessment would continue to depend on incoming economic data rather than any predetermined policy stance.His remarks came after Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh said no policymakers had advocated a rate hike during the Fed's June 16-17 policy meeting. However, the central bank's updated projections showed that nine of the 18 policymakers who submitted interest-rate forecasts expected at least one rate increase before the end of the year. Warsh did not submit a projection for the Fed's closely watched "dot plot," noting that the forecasts are subject to change as fresh economic data becomes available.Goolsbee reiterated that his approach remains firmly data-dependent. He said the key challenge is determining whether persistent factors or temporary developments drive the recent rise in inflation. Among the short-term influences he highlighted were higher goods prices linked to tariffs and a spike in fuel-related costs following the conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran.Reuters reported that Goolsbee also pointed to elevated oil prices as a potential temporary source of inflationary pressure, expressing hope that energy costs could ease quickly. However, he warned that services inflation remains stubbornly high and said that although wage growth has moderated, there is no assurance that inflation will slow sufficiently in the coming months.