Cleveland Federal Reserve President Beth Hammack said Monday that containing what she describes as broadening inflation — price pressures extending beyond isolated categories to a wider range of goods and services — will likely require more than a single interest rate increase, pushing back against market expectations that the Federal Reserve has finished raising rates.

Speaking to Yahoo Finance, Hammack said a solitary quarter-point move would probably do little on its own and that some further number of moves would likely be needed, though she declined to specify how many.

Hammack dissented at the Fed's July policy meeting, where the Federal Open Market Committee opted to hold rates steady. Dissents are relatively uncommon on the 12-member FOMC and typically signal a policymaker's strong conviction that the current policy stance is off course. She argued instead for a quarter-point increase, and she reiterated that view in the interview, saying she does not believe rates currently sitting in the 3.5% to 3.75% range are meaningfully restricting the economy.

She pointed to her own conversations with businesses, saying she is not hearing signs that firms feel constrained from investing or growing at current rate levels, which she said indicates now is the right time to act rather than wait. She cautioned that further delay would extend the period in which inflation runs above the Fed's 2% target and make the eventual task of bringing it back down harder.

Hammack described her preferred approach as gradual, comparing it to pumping the brakes ahead of a stop sign rather than braking hard all at once, and said now is the time to begin adding more restraint to policy. She said she would welcome being proven wrong if the data show inflation returning to target without further tightening, but added that from her current vantage point she does not see that happening on its own.

The Fed's preferred inflation gauge, core PCE, stood at 3.3% in June, while core CPI came in at 2.6% for the same month. Economists expect Wednesday's July core CPI release to show a further easing to around 2.5%, which would mark a second consecutive month of declining inflation if the forecast holds. A softer-than-expected reading would complicate Hammack's case for additional tightening, while a hotter print would lend it support.

Hammack also addressed July's surprise jobs report, which showed a loss of 23,000 positions, saying it does not distract her from her inflation focus. She noted that payrolls have averaged gains of only 20,000 to 25,000 a month over the past year and that the 4.1% unemployment rate sits close to her own estimate of full employment.

As a sitting FOMC member who dissented in July in favor of a hike, Hammack's view carries more weight than a typical regional president's. Her explicit statement that one move would not be enough raises the stakes on Wednesday's core CPI print. Related coverage.