Latest remarks from a Fed official — Hamak, one of the 2026 voting members Cleveland Fed President and 2026 voting member Hamak said in a PBS interview that the addition of only 29,000 jobs in September seems weak, but the average monthly increase of 41,000 jobs over the past 12 months roughly aligns with her estimate of the growth needed to maintain labor market stability. The unemployment rate rising to 4.2% still fits recent trends in her view, and she emphasized that one month’s data isn’t enough to conclude that employment has stalled. What concerns her more is the risk of prolonged high inflation leading businesses to preemptively factor future cost pressures into today’s prices. Hamak gave an example of a retailer in her district that raised prices beyond the current cost increases because the company anticipates further inflation shocks, even though they’re unsure where they’ll come from, while also trying to protect profit margins. If businesses and consumers gradually start treating continuous price hikes as the norm, prices could rise even without corresponding cost increases, making the Fed’s job of bringing inflation back to 2% much harder. Long-term inflation expectations remain relatively stable for now, but she believes this mindset must not spread further. Regarding the October meeting, Hamak didn’t explicitly choose between continuing rate hikes or pausing. She said there’s still plenty of data to be released before the end-of-month meeting, giving the Fed time to assess what policy stance can best balance employment and inflation. One @Gate, trade more markets