Powell may provide hints of whether Federal Reserve is edging close to rate cuts

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER
AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The latest measures of U.S. inflation have turned out to be hotter than expected. As a result, a key question for Chair Jerome Powell and the 18 other officials on the Fed’s interest-rate-setting committee is how — or whether — those price figures have altered their timetable for cutting rates after having raised them 11 times beginning two years ago. Powell will surely be pressed on the topic at a news conference Wednesday after the Fed ends its latest two-day policy meeting. The central bank’s policymakers will also issue their updated quarterly projections for how they foresee the economy and interest rates changing in the months and years ahead.