Fixed income markets project that the Fed will hold interest rates steady at the first scheduled meeting of 2026.

Federal Reserve officials are signaling that the era of rapid policy shifts is giving way to a more patient phase, with interest rates likely to sit still for longer than markets had hoped. After a series of cuts that brought borrowing costs closer to a neutral setting,

A slew of Federal Reserve officials spoke to the importance of central bank independence on Wednesday in response to questions about the news that the US Department of Justice issued subpoenas to the Fed focused on a costly building renovation and Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s congressional testimony last year about the project.

This past month’s inflation rate was 2.7 percent, matching November’s rate and lower than September’s 3.0 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index, a data-rich report that tracks the rise and fall of the price of consumer goods and services.

The consumer price index increased 2.7% in December as expected, matching the year-over-year increase in November.

The report is the last of its kind before the Federal Reserve meets again in two weeks. With the employment report for December showing the unemployment rate sinking back to a relatively healthy 4.4 percent, officials are expected to hold interest rates steady after cutting them three times since September.