Traders on Friday kept bets that the Federal Reserve will wait until June to resume interest rate cuts, after government data showed inflation by the U.S. central bank's targeted measure ticked up to 2.

A spike in energy prices helped to lift the headline PCE price index in December. The combined cost of gasoline, electricity, and other energy goods and services jumped 2.7% durin

Fed chair Jerome Powell said he has not talked with Trump since the president demanded last week “interest rates drop immediately.”

Consumers and traders are waiting to learn if the Fed’s pause is a one-meeting hold or the start of a longer stretch.

After three cuts at the end of last year, Federal Reserve officials paused rate moves as they weigh a solid economy and rising inflation risks. Jerome H. Powell, the Fed chair, said the central bank was not on a “pre-set course.

The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged on January 29, and an interest rate cut is unlikely when the Fed issues its next policy decision on March 19, 2025.

The decision reflects a cautious stance as the Fed assesses the direction of inflation and policies President Trump may implement.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday hit pause on interest rate cuts in its first key decision of President Donald Trump’s second term.

After three successive interest rate cuts, the Federal Reserve on Wednesday made no change in its benchmark lending rate amid new economic uncertainties over the outlook for inflation and President Trump's continued threats of new tariffs and other measures.

The central bank’s decision to pause at its first meeting of 2025 followed a series of cuts that began in September to account for progress already made on getting inflation down. Over the course of three meetings, the Fed lowered rates by a full percentage point to a range of 4.25 percent to 4.5 percent, which was maintained on Wednesday.