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,

The last two Fed meetings resulted in rate cuts. Short-term CD rates have continued to lower, but some long-term CD rates are rising back up again.

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."

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%.

"Unemployment is going to come down, growth is going to come up, inflation is going to come up," Deutsche Bank's chief US economist said.

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 50 basis points in September and followed up with another reduction of a quarter percentage point in November. Steve Sosnick, Interactive Brokers chief strategist,

Kent, the mortgage banker, noted that Fed rate cuts have more impact on credit cards, car loans, and other short-term borrowing than on business and mortgage loans. If mortgage rates stay high, he expects more buyers will ask for adjustable-rate loans, as if betting that rates will fall over the next few years.

A top Federal Reserve official says he is leaning toward supporting an interest rate cut when the Fed meets in two weeks but that evidence of persistent inflation before then could cause him to change that view.

Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller said Monday that as of today, he supports an interest-rate cut at the central bank’s next meeting in a little over two weeks.