The Consumer Price Index, a key inflation gauge that measures price changes for a basket of goods and services, increased 4% for the year ending in May. That represents a sharp pullback from April’s 4.9% and is slightly below economists’ expectations for a 4.1% gain, according to Refinitiv. It’s the 11th consecutive month that inflation has slowed, and it’s a welcome reprieve from the painful shock of persistently high inflation endured during the past two years. The Fed would like to see inflation (as measured by the core Personal Consumption Expenditures index) settle in at 2%. Markets are currently pricing in a 95.3% probability that the Fed pauses on Wednesday, according to CME FedWatch.

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Persons: It’s, “, Nancy Vanden Houten, it’s, Chris Zaccarelli, “ They’ve, ”, Scott Olson, Vanden Houten, There’s, Kurt Rankin, ” Rankin Organizations: Minneapolis CNN, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Oxford Economics, CNN, Federal Reserve, Independent, CPI, Fed, FedWatch, Walmart, Federal Reserve Bank, Richmond, Hospitality, PNC Financial Services, PNC, United Locations: Minneapolis, Chicago , Illinois, United States