ICYMI: Fed's Hammack says "its time to act" to cool inflation

Hammack's comments add another hawkish voice to a Fed that already looks more split than usual heading into the 15 to 16 September meeting, reinforcing a market that has moved to price slightly above 60 percent odds of a rate increase following Friday's strong jobs report. Her framing, that policy is not sufficiently restrictive rather than merely on hold, keeps upside risk in play for short-term rates and the dollar into the blackout period. With Hammack among three dissenters from July's hold decision, her remarks read less as new information and more as a data point confirming how quickly sentiment has shifted since the jobs report landed.---Greg had this Friday:Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack is sounding decidedly hawkish on monetary policy---- In case you missed it from Friday, Cleveland Fed president Beth Hammack said the time has come to act on inflation, just as a strong jobs report pushed rate hike odds above 60 percent.Summary:Cleveland Fed president Beth Hammack said in a Friday LinkedIn post that it is time for the central bank to act to cool inflationHammack said both data and anecdotes from her district suggest monetary policy is not sufficiently weighing on the economyShe described a conversation with a Northeast Ohio manufacturer who told her the Fed should raise rates given double-digit inflation in many input pricesHammack was one of three policymakers who dissented from the Fed's decision to hold rates steady in JulyThe FOMC meets 15 to 16 September to vote on interest rates, entering a communications blackout at midnightInvestors now price slightly above 60 percent odds of a rate increase this month, following a surprisingly strong jobs report released Friday ICYMI from Friday: Cleveland Fed president Beth Hammack said it is time for the central bank to act to bring down inflation, according to Bloomberg and Reuters reporting on a Friday LinkedIn post. Hammack said the data and anecdotes she is hearing from her district indicate monetary policy is not sufficiently weighing on the economy right now.In her post, Hammack described a conversation with a manufacturer in Northeast Ohio who told her the Fed should raise interest rates, pointing to double-digit inflation in many of his input prices. Hammack was one of three Fed policymakers who dissented from the central bank's decision to hold interest rates steady in July, a position that puts her among the more hawkish voices on the committee heading into this month's meeting.The Federal Open Market Committee is due to meet 15 to 16 September to vote on interest rates, with officials entering a communications blackout period at midnight before the meeting. That blackout limits how much further public signalling policymakers can offer before the decision itself.The timing of Hammack's comments matters as much as their content. They landed the same day as a surprisingly strong jobs report, which shifted market pricing toward a more hawkish outcome. Investors now put the odds of a rate increase at this month's meeting at slightly above 60 percent, a marked change from where expectations had sat prior to Friday's data.Taken together, Hammack's remarks reflect her own stated preference for tighter policy rather than a Fed decision or a shift in official guidance, but they arrive at a moment when the broader data flow is already pushing market expectations in the same direction she is arguing for. This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.