Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack joins Edward Lawrence to discuss Federal Reserve monetary policy, inflation, and the labor market. The panel reacts to Hammack's comments on rate hikes.
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What Beth Hammack said
Written from the verified transcript and checked against it. Every figure links to the moment it was said.
Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack defended her dissent from the Fed's rate decision, arguing the labor market is 'broadly in balance' around maximum employment of 4.5%, with unemployment at 4.1% and average monthly job creation of 20,000 to 25,000 over the past 3 or 12 months. She said inflation has stalled above 3% after falling from over 7%, and recent PCE data matched Cleveland Fed forecasts, making it 'time to act' with more restrictive policy. Hammack expressed concern about inflation expectations becoming unanchored, citing anecdotes from Ohio businesses, including one reporting double-digit input cost inflation. She praised the new Fed chair's 'fresh perspective' and 'bold ideas,' and discussed the potential shift from eight to six meetings per year, noting the need to consider implications for Beige Books and the SEP. She emphasized complementing data with district visits, like her trip to Dayton, Ohio.
Key takeaways
Hammack dissented from the Fed's decision and still supports a rate hike, citing inflation above 3% for too long.
She sees the labor market as 'broadly in balance' around 4.5% maximum employment, with unemployment at 4.1%.
Hammack said it is 'time to act' on inflation, which has stalled above 3% after falling from over 7%.
She is open to shifting Fed meetings from eight to six per year, pending analysis of Beige Books and SEP implications.
Hammack cited an Ohio businessman reporting double-digit inflation in input costs as evidence of persistent price pressures.
Numbers and commitments
Figure
What it refers to
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43,000
Jobs added in the latest report, down 103% for May and June
The Fed's annual meeting in Jackson Hole is picking up. Investors await Kevin Warsh's speech. Edward Lawrence is catching up with Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack.
Beth Hammack is joining me. She dissented; I wanted to start there. Thanks for being here. You dissented, and we've had a jobs report—43,000 jobs, down 103% for May and June. Do you still think we should have a hike?
You did see the drop in the jobs number. Look at the average jobs created over the past 3 or 12 months, looking at 20,000 or 25,000 jobs. You saw the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.1%. There's a confluence of numbers. The health of the labor market—certainly payroll numbers are one, and the unemployment rate is the best indicator. If you look at where we are, the labor market is broadly in balance around the estimate of maximum employment, 4.5%. I see a labor market that looks good. We have a dual mandate.
We have been looking at the inflation side for five years. Inflation came down from above 7% to 3%, but we stalled out. We've been over 3% for some time, and there was positive data that came in the past couple weeks. PCE data was in line with what we had at the Cleveland Fed. When I think of where we are, it is time to act. We've seen inflation above target for too long. We are doing well on the labor side, not the inflation side, and need to put restrictiveness into policy.
I think we are not going to make significant progress. We have to think about inflation staying up and how persistent is it. Could the inflationary mindset set in? Talking with people, I try to get at how they are thinking about where we are from an economic perspective. These are good jobs, good-paying jobs, but they are starting to feel it making ends meet. One fellow saying he likes to do that, but he's not been able to do that because of the cost of gasoline. We are getting to a place where we are moving from anchored inflation expectations.
He brings a fresh perspective, a lot of bold ideas, taking a step back looking at that. The committee's 19 people, very different backgrounds, very good spirited fights, but for the best policy possible.
Hammack, B. (2026, August 27). Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack says she sees a labor market 'broadly in balance' [Interview transcript]. Fox Business. CEOInterviews.AI. https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1280532/
MLA
Beth Hammack. "Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack says she sees a labor market 'broadly in balance'." Fox Business, 27 Aug. 2026. Transcript, CEOInterviews.AI, https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1280532/.
BibTeX
@misc{hammack2026_1280532,
author = {Beth Hammack},
title = {Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack says she sees a labor market 'broadly in balance'},
howpublished = {Interview transcript, Fox Business. CEOInterviews.AI},
year = {2026},
month = {aug},
url = {https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1280532/},
note = {Speaker-attributed transcript with timestamps}
}
