Fed must be ‘singularly’ focused on inflation, Mester says

(Reuters) – Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester on Thursday said she believes the U.S. unemployment rate will likely rise a little bit as the Fed raises rates, but that won’t stop the central bank from pursuing “job one” of fighting inflation.

“We have to be singularly focused on inflation,” Mester said at a virtual event held by the Council for Economic Education. “If we want to get back to healthy conditions, this is something we have to do.”

(Reporting by Ann Saphir; Editing by Sandra Maler)