Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said on Thursday that the U.S. economy can handle interest rate hike.

"I believe the economy can handle an increase in the fed funds rate and that it is appropriate for monetary policy to take a step back from the emergency measure of zero interest rates," she said.

Mester added that the U.S. economy needs to add between 70,000 and 120,000 jobs per month to keep the unemployment rate steady at the current level of 5.1%.