Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said on Monday he was inclined to cut the benchmark interest rate at the Dec. 17-18 meeting as monetary policy remained restrictive enough to keep putting downward pressure on inflation,

Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller said he was leaning toward favoring a cut in interest rates at the central bank’s meeting later this month, though he also said he could be open to arguments for holding rates steady.

When accounting for the various policies, Deutsche Bank estimates the US economy will grow at an annualized rate of 2.5% in 2025, with the rate of unemployment ending the year at 3.9% (down from 4.1% currently) and the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, "core" Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE), ending 2025 at 2.6%.

Powell just a week after the meeting said the economy was "not sending any signals that we need to be in a hurry to lower rates."

Consumer inflation accelerated in October 2024. However, the odds of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut on December 18 are still high.