Inflation is cooling, and parts of the economy appear to be weakening. But Chair Jerome Powell is likely Wednesday to underscore that the Federal Reserve's primary focus remains the need to fight surging prices with still-higher interest rates.
With financial markets anticipating that the Fed will stop raising rates soon and possibly even cut them later this year, analysts say Powell will need to push back against such optimism. If financial markets expect lower rates than what the Fed plans to deliver, the central bank's already treacherous task can become even harder.
