Former Cleveland Fed President Mester reacts to September jobs report

WHO WANTED THEIR MONEY BACK GOT IT. THE BAD NEWS IS 40% OF PEOPLE STILL HAVEN'T GOT IT RIGHT. >> LET'S TALK MORE ABOUT THAT NUMBER WE JUST SAW. JOINING US NOW, LORETTA MESTER, FORMER CLEVELAND FED PRESIDENT, ADJUNCT PROFESSOR OF FINANCE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA'S WHARTON BUSINESS SCHOOL, AS WELL AS A CNBC CONTRIBUTOR. PROBABLY MISSED THE FED. NOW WHAT A SORT OF AN EASY DECISION THAT EVERYBODY THERE'S GOING TO BE NO HAND WRINGING OR CONSTERNATION. IT'S SET THE FED UP, AS WE JUST TALKED ABOUT, WITH NOT HAVING TO MAYBE RAISE RIGHT BEFORE AN ELECTION. LORETTA. >> WELL, IT'S A STEADY LABOR MARKET. THAT REPORT WAS CONSISTENT WITH THAT. SO IT DIDN'T CHANGE THE VIEW OF THE FED ON THAT. IT'S NOT A DRIVER. LABOR ISN'T A DRIVER OF INFLATION. THAT'S WHAT THE FED'S BEEN SAYING. SO THAT'S REPORT IS CONSISTENT WITH THAT. AND I DO THINK THE FED IS LIKELY TO REMAIN ON HOLD BUT NOT BECAUSE OF THE ELECTION. I THINK YOU KNOW JEFFERSON AND WILLIAMS BOTH SIGNALED THAT IN THEIR REMARKS OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF DAYS. AND REMEMBER WHEN KEVIN WARSH FLOATED THE IDEA OF OF ACTUALLY HAVING FEWER FOMC MEETINGS IN A YEAR? THE REASON HE GAVE WAS THAT IT WOULD ALLOW THE FED TO ACCUMULATE MORE DATA AND INFORMATION ON WHICH TO ACTUALLY BASE THEIR DECISIONS. SO IF YOU LOOK AT SORT OF THE CALENDAR OF DATA THAT COMES OUT BEFORE THAT OCTOBER MEETING, IT'S IT'S NOT THAT RICH, RIGHT? THERE'S GOING TO BE THE CPI REPORT IN THE MIDDLE OF OCTOBER. THEY WON'T GET THE PCI, PCE INFLATION REPORT UNTIL THE DAY AFTER THE MEETING. SO YOU COULD ARGUE THAT FOR THOSE GROUNDS YOU COULD SORT OF DELAY WHICH MOST PARTICIPANTS THINK ARE GOING TO BE TAKING MORE INTEREST RATE INCREASES. BUT YOU COULD DELAY AND PAUSE IN OCTOBER AND STILL BE CONSISTENT WITH THE MESSAGING THEY'RE GIVING, WHICH IS THAT INFLATION IS THE MAIN PROBLEM IN THE ECONOMY. I THINK YOU COULD MAKE A CASE FOR MOVING, THOUGH, BASED ON THE ECONOMICS, BUT I THINK IT'S MORE LIKELY NOW THEY'LL HOLD IN OCTOBER AND JUST GATHER THAT DATA. >> I JUST THINK, YOU KNOW, GOLDILOCKS IS OVERUSED AND THE FED AND WE'RE NOT ALL JUST HELD HOSTAGE BY WHAT'S GOOD FOR THE STOCK MARKET OBVIOUSLY. BUT IF YOU WERE THE STOCK MARKET AND YOU DID HAVE TO PICK WHAT TYPE OF REPORT YOU WOULD HAVE LIKED TODAY, THIS WAS PRETTY FRIENDLY. I MEAN, BECAUSE IT LOOKS LIKE WE'RE PRETTY CLOSE TO FULL EMPLOYMENT. IT WENT UP A LITTLE BIT TO 4.2. SOME OF THE RECENT INFLATION NUMBERS HAVE BEEN A LITTLE BETTER. MAYBE OIL IS ACTING A LITTLE BIT BETTER, AND IT JUST DOESN'T LOOK LIKE THE THE COMPONENTS FROM LABOR THAT WOULD CAUSE THE FED TO BE WORRIED ABOUT INFLATION. THEY JUST REALLY WEREN'T PRESENT HERE. WOULDN'T YOU GO HOME FEELING PRETTY GOOD AS A MEMBER OF THE FED THIS WEEKEND? I THINK LORETTA. >> WELL, IT IS A GOOD REPORT IN THE SENSE THAT THE LABOR MARKET IS STEADY. AND I AGREE WITH YOU THAT THERE'S NOTHING IN THAT REPORT OR EVEN THE TREND IN IN THE LABOR MARKET ALL YEAR THAT SUGGESTS THAT THAT'S REALLY DRIVING INFLATION UP. BUT IF YOU'RE THE FED AND YOU'VE BEEN HAVING INFLATION ABOVE YOUR GOAL FOR FIVE PLUS YEARS, YOU REALLY NEED TO BE ADDRESSING THAT ISSUE. AND IT'S VERY EASY TO GO INTO THE ROOM AND SAY, WELL, WE CAN WAIT TILL NEXT MONTH OR NEXT MEETING TO TAKE ACTION. I THINK IT'S HARDER, RIGHT, TO GO IN THERE AND SAY, IN THIS ENVIRONMENT, RIGHT? WHY NOT TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE FACT THAT THE LABOR MARKET IS STABLE AND INCREASED RATES A LITTLE BIT TO TRY TO WORK AGAINST INFLATION? SO THAT'S THE ARGUMENT THAT YOU CAN MAKE THAT THERE'S NO