Inflation remains the biggest problem facing the U.S. economy, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said in an interview released Aug. 11, arguing that price pressures remain a more urgent concern than a weakening but not collapsing labor market. He described employment conditions as stable "without being good," pointing to unemployment, hiring and layoffs as the key indicators shaping his view. The remarks come as Federal Reserve officials debate whether to raise rates from the current 3.50%–3.75% range after the central bank held policy steady at its July 28–29 meeting in a 9-3 vote. Beth Hammack, Neel Kashkari and Lorie Logan favored a 25-basis-point increase, while Goolsbee did not signal how he would approach the Sept. 15–16 meeting and does not vote on policy this year. Inflation has stayed above the Fed's 2% target even as some monthly readings have cooled. June CPI fell 0.4% from May, with annual headline inflation easing to 3.5% from 4.2%, while core CPI was unchanged on the month and rose 2.6% year over year. Economists surveyed by Reuters expect July headline and core CPI, due Aug. 12, to slow to 3.4% and 2.5%, respectively. The policy debate has unfolded alongside softer labor data and renewed energy-market stress tied to the U.S.-Iran conflict and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a route that normally carries about one-fifth of global oil and gas supplies. Bitcoin fell into the low-$63,000 range as higher oil prices and inflation concerns weighed on risk appetite, while U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs posted $144.6 million in net withdrawals on Aug. 10, ending five straight sessions of inflows.