Federal Reserve official Chris Hammack said the latest U.S. employment figures were "disappointing" and signaled that hiring could continue to soften toward the end of the year, even though the labor market remains broadly balanced for now. Speaking in a Bloomberg Television interview, the non-voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee cautioned that the job market "bears watching closely" and that policymakers could "see some weakness on the labor side of the picture." Hammack also warned that the 145% U.S. tariff on Chinese imports, which took effect in April, is likely to lift consumer prices as companies pass higher costs through to customers. "We expect to see inflation numbers tick up on tariffs," he said, adding that price pressures continue to weigh on business decisions. He described the current setting of interest rates as "a little bit restrictive but close to neutral," and called the present environment "a really tricky time for monetary policy." Hammack nevertheless expressed confidence in this week’s FOMC decision, saying the central bank must balance a still-tight labor market against inflation that has "missed bigger and lasted longer" than expected.