Federal Reserve officials on Wednesday will likely signal a slower pace of interest rate cuts next year compared with the past few months, which would mean that Americans might enjoy only slight relief from still-high borrowing costs for mortgages, auto loans and credit cards.

Consumers stepped up their spending at retail stores last month, providing a boost to the economy in the early phases of the winter holiday shopping season.

U.S. stock indexes trimmed some of their stellar gains for the year.

Americans hoping for lower borrowing costs for homes, credit cards and cars may be disappointed after this week’s Federal Reserve meeting.

Fueled by pricier used cars, hotel rooms and groceries, inflation in the United States moved slightly higher last month in the latest sign that some price pressures remain elevated.

President-elect Donald Trump campaigned on the promise that his policies would reduce high borrowing costs and lighten the financial burden on American households.

Chair Jerome Powell said the Federal Reserve’s ability to set interest rates free of political interference is necessary for it to make decisions to serve “all Americans” rather than a political party or political outcome.

Just a few weeks ago, the path ahead for the Federal Reserve looked straightforward: With inflation cooling and the job market slowing, the Fed appeared on track to steadily cut interest rates.

Chair Jerome Powell says the Federal Reserve will likely cut its key interest rate slowly and deliberately in the coming months, in part because inflation has shown signs of persistence and the Fed’s officials want to see where it heads next.

A Federal Reserve official has given a lengthy defense of the central bank's political independence.

The Federal Reserve cut its key rate by a quarter-point in response to the steady decline in the once-high inflation that had angered Americans and helped drive Donald Trump’s presidential election victory this week.

Most U.S. stocks rose as the Federal Reserve cut interest rates again to make things easier for the economy.

No one knows how Tuesday’s presidential election will turn out, but the Federal Reserve’s move two days later is much easier to predict: With inflation continuing to cool, the Fed is set to cut interest rates for a second time this year.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has signaled that more rate cuts are in the pipeline, though their size and speed will depend on the evolution of the economy.

The Federal Reserve has cut its benchmark interest rate from its 23-year high, with consequences for debt, savings, auto loans, mortgages and other forms of borrowing by consumers and businesses.

It’s unclear just how large the Fed’s rate could be, and people across the U.S. surely have several questions.

The Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by an unusually large half-point, a dramatic shift after more than two years of high rates that helped tame inflation but also made borrowing painfully expensive for consumers.

Most of the U.S. stock market edged lower after the Federal Reserve kicked off its efforts to prevent a recession with a bigger-than-usual cut to interest rates.

American consumers and home buyers, business people and political leaders have been waiting for months for what the Federal Reserve is poised to announce this week: That it’s cutting its key interest rate from a two-decade peak.

A government investigation into Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic's securities trades and investments has found he violated several of the central bank's ethics policies.

When Jerome Powell delivered a high-profile speech last month, the Federal Reserve chair came the closest he ever had to declaring that the inflation surge that gripped the nation for three painful years was now essentially defeated.

An inflation measure closely tracked by the Federal Reserve remained low last month, extending a trend of cooling price increases that clears the way for the Fed to start cutting its key interest rate next month for the first time in 4 1/2 years.

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell slightly last week as the U.S. labor market remains healthy in the face of high interest rates.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell all but proclaimed mission accomplished in the fight against inflation and signaled that interest rate cuts are coming in a much-anticipated speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

U.S. stocks rallied closer to their records after the head of the Federal Reserve finally said out loud what Wall Street has been expecting for a while: Cuts to interest rates are coming soon to help the economy.

With inflation nearly defeated and the job market cooling, the Federal Reserve is prepared to start cutting its key interest rate from its current 23-year high, Chair Jerome Powell said Friday.

U.S. stocks closed lower as Wall Street counted down to its main event for the week, a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell coming up on Friday.

Most Federal Reserve officials agreed last month that they would likely cut their benchmark interest rate at their next meeting in September as long as inflation continued to cool.

U.S. stocks ticked higher after more big companies delivered profit reports that topped analysts’ expectations.

Federal Reserve officials have said they’re increasingly confident that they’ve nearly tamed inflation.

U.S. stocks drifted higher as Wall Street coasted to the close of its best week since November.

The turmoil shaking global financial markets reflects a sudden fear that the Federal Reserve may have held its key interest rate too high for too long, heightening the risk of a U.S. recession.

Stocks tumbled Friday on worries the U.S. economy could be cracking under the weight of high interest rates meant to whip inflation.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has set the stage for the central bank’s first rate cut in four years.

The Federal Reserve’s favored inflation measure remained low last month, bolstering evidence that price pressures are steadily cooling and setting the stage for the Fed to begin cutting interest rates in September.

Asian stocks are mixed as investors grappled with weak economic data from China and waited to see the outcome of a top Communist Party policy meeting in Beijing.

Chair Jerome Powell said the Federal Reserve is becoming more convinced that inflation is headed back to its 2% target and said the Fed would cut rates before the pace of price increases actually reached that point.

Asian shares have carried on with the blistering rally on Wall Street, as Japan's Nikkei 225 index surged over 42,000 for the first time.

Inflation in the United States cooled in June for a third straight month, a sign that the worst price spike in four decades is steadily fading and may soon usher in interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reinforced a message that the Fed is paying growing attention to a slowing job market and not only to taming inflation, a shift that signals it’s likely to begin cutting interest rates soon.

The Federal Reserve faces a cooling job market as well as persistently high prices, Chair Jerome Powell said in testimony to Congress, a shift in emphasis away from the Fed’s single-minded fight against inflation that suggests it's moving closer to cutting interest rates.

Shares are mixed in Asia after testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell in front of Congress provided little new guidance on when the U.S. central bank might lower interest rates.

The Federal Reserve is highlighting the importance of its political independence at a time when Donald Trump, who frequently attacked the Fed’s policymaking in the past, edges closer to formally becoming the Republican nominee for president.

Federal Reserve officials at their most recent meeting welcomed recent signs that inflation is slowing and highlighted data suggesting that the job market and the broader economy could be cooling.

Inflation in the United States is slowing again after higher readings earlier this year, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said, while adding that more such evidence would be needed before the Fed would cut interest rates.

Federal Reserve officials said inflation has fallen further toward their target level in recent months but signaled that they expect to cut their benchmark interest rate just once this year.

After Federal Reserve officials meet this week, a statement they will issue may suggest that they’ve seen meaningful progress on inflation this year — a prelude to eventual interest rate cuts.

America’s employers added a strong 272,000 jobs in May, accelerating from April and a sign that companies are still confident enough in the economy to keep hiring despite persistently high interest rates.

A price gauge closely tracked by the Federal Reserve cooled slightly last month, a sign that inflation may be easing after running high in the first three months of this year.

Hopes for interest rate cuts this year by the Federal Reserve are steadily fading, with a stream of recent remarks by Fed officials underscoring their intention to keep borrowing costs high as long as needed to curb persistently elevated inflation.

After several unexpectedly high inflation readings, Federal Reserve officials concluded at a meeting earlier this month that it would take longer than they previously thought for inflation to cool enough to justify reducing their key interest rate, now at a 23-year high.

Led by lower food and auto prices, inflation in the United States cooled slightly last month after three elevated readings, likely offering a tentative sigh of relief for officials at the Federal Reserve as well as President Joe Biden’s re-election team.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday that the central bank is unlikely to raise its key interest rate in response to signs of stubborn inflation and underscored his view that price increases would soon start to cool again.

Asian stocks have advanced after equities rose on Wall Street, with the Nasdaq composite hitting a record high.

The sharp interest rate hikes of the past two years will likely take longer than previously expected to bring down inflation, several Federal Reserve officials have said in recent comments, suggesting there may be few, if any, rate cuts this year.

Asian markets are wobbling in early trading after U.S. stocks swung to a mixed finish with the Federal Reserve delaying cuts to interest rates.

The Federal Reserve emphasized that inflation has remained stubbornly high and said it doesn’t plan to cut interest rates until it has “greater confidence” that price increases are slowing sustainably to its 2% target.

Pay and benefits for America’s workers grew more quickly in the first three months of this year, a trend that could contribute to higher inflation and raise concerns about the future path of price increases at the Federal Reserve.

Asian shares are trading mostly higher as investors kept their eyes on potentially market-moving reports expected later this week.

A measure of inflation closely tracked by the Federal Reserve remained uncomfortably high in March, likely reinforcing the Fed’s reluctance to cut interest rates anytime soon and underscoring a burden for President Joe Biden’s re-election bid.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell cautioned that persistently elevated inflation will likely delay any Fed interest rate cuts until later this year, opening the door to a period of higher-for-longer rates.

Federal Reserve Vice Chair Philip Jefferson suggested that the central bank’s key rate may have to remain at its peak for a while to bring down persistently elevated inflation.

Asian shares are trading mixed after most U.S. stocks slipped on rising expectations interest rates may stay high for a while.

Some Federal Reserve policymakers argued at their most recent meeting in March that inflation was likely worsening, even before the government reported Wednesday that price increases re-accelerated last month.

Ever since the Federal Reserve signaled last fall that it was likely done raising interest rates, Wall Street traders, economists, would-be homeowners — pretty much everyone — began obsessing over a single question: When will the Fed start cutting rates.

Federal Reserve officials will likely reduce their benchmark interest rate later this year, Chair Jerome Powell said, despite recent reports showing that the U.S. economy is still strong and that U.S. inflation picked up in January and February.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reiterated a message he has sounded in recent weeks: While the Fed expects to cut interest rates this year, it won’t be ready to do so until it sees “more good inflation readings’’ and is more confident that annual price increases are falling toward its 2% target.

Asian benchmarks are mostly higher after U.S. stocks rallied to records following the Federal Reserve's indication that it expects to deliver interest rate cuts later this year.

Federal Reserve officials signaled that they still expect to cut their key interest rate three times in 2024 despite signs that inflation remained elevated at the start of the year.

Across the United States, many people are eagerly anticipating the Federal Reserve’s first cut to its benchmark interest rate this year: Prospective home buyers hope for lower mortgage rates.

Asian shares are mostly higher after U.S. stocks climbed to records, with easier interest rates beckoning on the horizon.

The European Central Bank has left its key interest rate at a record high even though inflation is way down from its painful double-digit peak and the economy has stalled.

Asian shares were mostly higher in early trading, after Wall Street recovered some losses from the day before.

Chair Jerome Powell reinforced his belief that the Federal Reserve will cut its key interest rate this year but said it first wants to see more evidence that inflation is falling sustainably back to the Fed’s 2% target.

Federal Reserve officials acknowledged at their most recent meeting in January that there had been “significant progress” in reducing inflation.

A strong performance in financial markets, particularly an outsize gain for the stock market in 2021, helped entrench existing trends of wealth inequality during the pandemic, new data released this week show.

The Congressional Budget Office says it expects the federal budget deficit to drop by $188 billion this fiscal year to $1.5 trillion.

Chair Jerome Powell said in an interview broadcast Sunday night that the Federal Reserve remains on track to cut interest rates three times this year, a move that’s expected to begin as early as May.

Interest rate cuts are coming.

Chair Jerome Powell will enter this week’s Federal Reserve meeting in a much more desirable position than he likely ever expected: Inflation is getting close to the Fed’s target rate, the economy is still growing at a healthy pace, consumers keep spending and the unemployment rate is near a half-century low.

The Federal Reserve’s policymakers concluded last month that inflationary pressures were easing and that the job market was cooling.

It was the most painful inflation Americans had experienced since 1981, when “The Dukes of Hazzard” and “The Jeffersons” were topping the TV charts.

The Congressional Budget Office says it expects inflation to nearly hit the Federal Reserve’s 2% target rate in 2024, as overall growth is expected to slow and unemployment is expected to rise into 2025, according to updated economic projections for the next two years.

Shares are mostly higher in Asia after a powerful rally across Wall Street sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a record high as the Federal Reserve indicated that interest rate cuts are likely next year.

The Federal Reserve kept its key interest rate unchanged for a third straight time, and its officials signaled that they expect to make three quarter-point cuts to their benchmark rate next year.

With inflation edging closer to the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, its policymakers are facing — and in some cases fueling — hopes that they will make a decisive shift in policy and cut interest rates next year, possibly as soon as spring.

Inflation is slowing steadily, but it’s too early to declare victory or to discuss when the Federal Reserve might cut interest rates, Chair Jerome Powell said.

Federal Reserve officials concluded earlier this month that inflation was steadily falling and agreed to closely monitor incoming data to ensure that the pace of price increases would continue slowing toward their 2% target, according to the minutes of the meeting.

Long past its painful peak, inflation in the United States may be heading steadily back toward its pre-pandemic levels, without the need for further interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell suggested that the Fed is in no hurry to further raise its benchmark interest rate, given evidence that inflation pressures are continuing to ease at a gradual pace.

Asian shares are surging after the U.S. Federal Reserve indicated it may not need to pump the brakes any harder on Wall Street and the economy.

The Federal Reserve kept its key short-term interest rate unchanged for a second straight time but left the door open to further rate hikes if inflation pressures should accelerate in the months ahead.

The Federal Reserve is poised to leave its key interest rate unchanged at a time when the Fed faces an economy that has proved resilient but is nevertheless under pressure from surging interest rates, overseas turmoil and anxious investors.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury has reached 5% for the first time since 2007.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said inflation remains too high and that bringing it down to the Fed’s target level will likely require a slower-growing economy and job market.

Federal Reserve officials regarded the U.S. economy’s outlook as particularly uncertain last month, according to minutes released Wednesday, and said they would “proceed carefully” in deciding whether to further raise their benchmark interest rate.

Federal Reserve officials typically gather many of their insights and observations about the economy from some of the top Ph.D. economists in Washington.

Last year’s spike in inflation, to the highest level in four decades, was painful enough for American households.

The Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rate unchanged for the second time in its past three meetings, a sign that it’s moderating its fight against inflation as price pressures have eased.

Since Federal Reserve officials last met in July, the economy has moved in the direction they hoped to see: Inflation continues to ease, if more slowly than most Americans would like, while growth remains solid and the job market cools.