Bharat Ramamurti, a former deputy director of the White House National Economic Council, said the Fed had "made a mistake" by not cutting rates in July and that "the possibility of a 50 basis point cut in September should be strongly considered". He said the risks to price stability and inflation were much more serious than those facing the job market. "If you look at the data on hiring, quitting, claiming unemployment benefits, there are data that suggest that the labor market is under pressure right now, and I don't think the job market is going to fall off a cliff. Still, from all the data we've seen, the Fed rate seems too restrictive relative to the inflation rate we're seeing right now."