April 26 - U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers sifting through the latest inflation data will find little to fuel a sense of urgency to cut interest rates, but also nothing to rule out the likelihood of rate reductions starting later this year.
The year-over-year rise in personal consumption expenditures price index, which the U.S. central bank targets at 2%, accelerated to 2.7% in March from 2.5% in February. Core PCE, a measure of underlying inflation, came in at 2.8%, the same as February. Fed policymakers meet next week and are nearly universally expected to keep the policy rate in its current 5.25%-5.5% range, and to continue to signal no urgency on cuts. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has said the central bank needs more confidence that inflation is heading towards their 2% goal before cutting rates.
"Given the momentum for the economy and prices, we don’t expect the Fed to strongly consider easing monetary policy until its September meeting at the earliest," wrote Nationwide economist Ben Ayers."There is also a risk that the further economic resilience pushes off any rate declines until 2025, a key downside risk for growth next year."
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