October inflation readings out this week have shown little progress toward the Fed's 2% inflation target, putting into question how deeply the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in 2025. On Wednesday,

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.

The Labor Department on Wednesday reported that consumer prices in October rose 2.6% from a year earlier. That marks a pickup in the pace of inflation from September, when prices were up 2.4% on the year.