October’s firm inflation reading raises the question of whether Federal Reserve officials will accelerate increases at their December meeting or beyond. A big question—beyond the heavy focus on December (could AI tightening prompt another skip? does 0.4% on core PCE put a 50 in play?)—has been whether the Fed is making a modest adjustment of two or three increases or is instead at the start of a longer tightening campaign. A milder reading might have opened a path for December’s increase to be the Fed’s last. At a minimum, today’s report is likely to lead officials to conclude that they will need to do more next year, not less. https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/stock-market-cpi-inflation-11-10-2026/card/nick-timiraos-inflation-report-tests-fed-s-strategy-of-spacing-out-rate-increases-4UpyehsRNhxkrZ02kSId