Fed’s balancing act could see June rate cut in play even with sticky inflation

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says the central bank is not growing more tolerant of higher inflation even though the latest policymaker projections raised the inflation outlook for the year without triggering a tougher monetary-policy response. But former Fed officials and other analysts see Powell nevertheless approaching a difficult moment trying to reconcile competing economic risks, a divided group of Fed policymakers, and a public now expecting interest rate cuts to start in June. Upcoming data may well support a June rate reduction if inflation declines convincingly towards the Fed's 2% target between now and then, resuming a trend that encouraged policymakers last year to cap the federal funds rate at the current 5.25%-5.50% and lay the groundwork for easing to begin this year.