US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell takes questions during apress conference after the Monetary Policy Committee meeting in Washington, DC, on December 18, 2024. The US Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter point December 18 and signaled a slower pace of cuts ahead, amid uncertainty about inflation and US President-elect Donald Trump's economic plans. Policymakers voted 11-to-1 to lower the central bank's key lending rate to between 4.25 percent and 4.50 percent, the Fed announced in a statement. They also penciled in just two quarter-point rate cuts for next year, and sharply hiked their inflation outlook for 2025. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)