Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday that inflation data show that the U.S. has made "significant progress" on bringing down inflation down the bank's 2% target.
The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, the personal consumption expenditures, or PCE, price index, hit 2.1% in September. But the core measure, which excludes food and energy costs, remained higher at 2.7% year over year.
So why isn't the Fed pausing interest-rate cuts? Powell said he expects there to be "bumps," noting that the recent three- and six-month measures of inflation growth have been stronger. But nonetheless the inflation story is showing continued progress.