Next year, the newly appointed FOMC committee member took the lead in "hawkish" stance: Interest rates should remain unchanged until spring, with inflation still a major concern.

BlockBeats News, December 22, Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack stated that after three consecutive rate cuts at the Fed's past meetings, she sees no need for any rate adjustments in the coming months.

Hammack opposed the recent rate cuts due to her concerns about persistent high inflation, which outweighed worries about potential labor market fragility— the latter of which prompted officials to cut rates by a cumulative 0.75 percentage points over the past few months. Hammack is not a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) this year but will gain voting rights next year.

Hammack suggested that the Fed does not need to adjust its current target range of 3.5% to 3.75% for the federal funds rate at least until the spring of next year. She stated that by then, the Fed will be better positioned to assess whether recent commodity price inflation is receding as the impact of tariffs is more fully absorbed in the supply chain. (Jinse)