Cleveland Fed's Hammack says it is time to act to cool inflation

September 4, 2026 at 09:36 PM1 min

This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Beth Hammack said Friday it is time for the U.S. central bank to act to cool inflation. Hammack, one of three policymakers who dissented from the Fed's July decision to hold rates steady, said data and anecdotes from her district show monetary policy is not sufficiently weighing on the economy. Her comments come as investors put the odds of a rate increase at the Fed's Sept. 15-16 meeting at slightly above 60% after a strong jobs report.

Key Facts

Beth Hammack is president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
Hammack was one of three policymakers who dissented from the Fed's decision to hold interest rates steady in July.
Investors put the odds of a rate increase at the Fed's Sept. 15-16 meeting at slightly above 60% after a strong jobs report on Friday.
Hammack described a conversation with a manufacturer in Northeast Ohio who said he is seeing double-digit inflation in many input prices.

Hammack's Call to Action

Hammack said in a LinkedIn post on Friday that "right now, what I'm hearing is that it's time to act." She said both data and anecdotes from her district are telling her that monetary policy is not sufficiently weighing on the economy right now. In her post, she described a conversation with a manufacturer in Northeast Ohio who told her the Fed should raise interest rates because he's seeing double-digit inflation in many of his input prices.

Fed Policy Outlook

Policymakers next meet Sept. 15-16 to vote on interest rates. They enter a communications blackout period at midnight. Investors put the odds of a rate increase at this month's meeting at slightly above 60% after a surprisingly strong jobs report on Friday.