Cleveland Fed's Hammack Urges Rate Hike to Combat Persistent Inflation

Cleveland Federal Reserve President Beth Hammack is intensifying her call for the central bank to raise interest rates, arguing that current policy is not sufficiently restrictive to bring down persistent inflation. Speaking at the Fed's annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Thursday, August 27, 2026, Hammack declared, "I believe now is the time to act," emphasizing that inflation has remained above the Fed's 2% target for more than five years.

Her remarks, delivered in interviews with CNBC and Fox Business, come as recent data shows inflation still hovering near 3% annualized. The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, the Fed's preferred gauge, showed headline inflation at 3.7% year-over-year and core inflation at 3.3% in the latest report. Hammack argued that the current benchmark interest rate, held between 3.5% and 3.75%, provides no real restraint on the economy, allowing businesses to borrow freely while households struggle with high prices.

Hammack was one of three dissenters at the July FOMC meeting who pushed for a quarter-point rate increase. She is not alone in her hawkish stance. Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid, also at Jackson Hole,...