The Consumer Price Index rose 3.0 percent from a year earlier as food and energy prices picked up.

Investors are now betting that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates just once more this year, a drastic shift in expectations since late 2024.

Jerome H. Powell is set to testify as inflation risks are resurfacing, regulatory changes are in flux and the Federal Reserve’s policy independence is in the spotlight.

The central bank has halted hiring to align with a White House directive and pulled back its work on climate change.

Gross domestic product grew by 2.3 percent in the fourth quarter, capping a more robust year than expected. Policy uncertainty clouds the outlook.

Several large U.S. financial institutions, including the Federal Reserve, have withdrawn from the networks after years of growing political and legal pressure.

The Consumer Price Index rose 2.9 percent from a year earlier, but a measure of underlying inflation was more encouraging.

A December gain of 256,000 blew past forecasts, and unemployment fell to 4.2 percent. But markets recoiled as interest rate cuts seemed more distant.

Stronger-than-expected data on the labor market has added to clues that the economy continues to run at a solid pace, amplifying fears about stubborn inflation.

Stubborn inflation, and potential tariffs, make future rate cuts uncertain.

Michael Barr oversaw an attempt to rewrite financial regulations that came under attack from a wide range of groups, including banks, lawmakers and even some of his colleagues.