NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Don't expect last week's weaker-than-expected jobs report to stop the Federal Reserved from its mission of raising interest rates -- that's the message from two Fed bank presidents following news that payrolls rose just 96,000 in September.

Both Bill Poole, president of the St. Louis Fed, and Gary Stern, president of the Minneapolis Fed (both members of the interest-rate setting Federal Open Market Committee) said that weaker payrolls numbers would not alter the Fed's path of moving at a measured pace.

More rate hikes are coming folks, and they may be trying to say they are still on track for another 1/4 point hike to 2.0% at the November meeting.

Hard to understand what kind of game the Fed is playing right now. Last week two Fed bank presidents, including Poole, and one Fed governor, said in so many words that Fed rate hikes are NOT automatic, that the Fed could move faster or slower depending on the economy.

But obviously lackluster growth in non-farm payrolls is not enough to make the Fed think twice about raising rates. And both Stern and Poole believe the economy will continue to grow at somewhere around a 4.0 annual rate. High energy prices will not derail the economy. And inflation looks tame.

Sounds like economic nirvana. So why are they raising rates now?

Both officials are strictly on Fed message here: to make sure that "imbalances" don't occur later -- in other words, to make sure they don't leave rates at a low level and find that inflation has perked up and they have to really jack rates up quickly to quell it.

The Fed is obviously pretty optimistic about the economy. In fact Stern said it is on track to create 150,000 to 200,000 jobs a month. So sit back and relax. If you're worried about inflation you're happy the Fed is moving to raise rates. If you're worried about the economy you're hoping the Fed is correct, even though they've misgauged the economy in the past.

Meanwhile bond yields remain lower than almost anyone on Wall Street or at the Fed expected. The Fed takes it as a sign the bond market likes its inflation-fighting rate hikes. Some take it as a sign the bond market likes the fact that rising rates could slow the economy and keep the backdrop for low yields in place. The economy and the job market will tell the final tale.  

Kathleen Hays anchors CNN Money Morning and The FlipSide, airing Monday to Friday on CNNfn. As part of CNN's Business News team, she also contributes to Lou Dobbs Tonight.