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Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook said that U.S. overall inflation has remained above the Fed's 2% target for more than five years. She supports a 25 basis point rate hike at the September meeting and emphasized her commitment to restoring price stability while maintaining a strong job market. She said that rural communities in the United States have about 20 million workers, accounting for about one-eighth of the U.S. employed population. The overall unemployment rate is close to the national level, but the labor force participation rate is lower, and employment growth in recent years has been slower than in urban areas. Inflation in rural areas was once higher than in urban areas after the pandemic, mainly affected by rising energy prices and housing costs. Cook pointed out that rural households spend about one-quarter of their total expenditures on transportation, higher than urban households, so rising energy prices have a more pronounced impact on rural residents. She also noted that small businesses play an important role in the rural economy. There are about 4.3 million small businesses in rural America, accounting for more than 96% of local businesses and providing 7.4 million jobs.