A report due out Tuesday is expected to show that prices cooled again in November, giving some relief to households and businesses being squeezed by high inflation and the Federal Reserve’s ongoing fight to slow the economy, the Washington Post reported. Analysts forecast that data to be released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics will show that prices rose around 7.3 percent in November compared to last year, and roughly 0.2 percent over October. Those figures are way too high for a healthy economy, but they would show further progress since the most recent inflation report, which would offer policymakers and the American public fresh hope that the Fed’s aggressive moves to tame inflation are paying off. The latest inflation data comes as the Federal Reserve convenes for its final meeting of the year. Officials are widely expected to raise interest rates by half a percentage point on Wednesday, a slightly slower pace than they have been on since the summer. They will also release a fresh set of internal projections showing how much further rates could climb and how long borrowing costs may stay high. The central bank’s baseline rate is expected to eclipse 5 percent before the Fed pauses hikes sometime next year. It sat near zero for much of the pandemic.
