In a move that consumers will welcome, the Federal Reserve on Thursday slashed its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.5-4.75%— marking the second reduction this year. The Federal Reserve implemented a series of interest rate hikes in 2022 and 2023 to combat high inflation — which peaked at 9% in the middle of 2022.

Chair Jerome Powell says the Federal Reserve will likely cut its key interest rate slowly and deliberately in the coming months, in part because inflation has shown signs of persistence and the Fed's officials want to see where it heads next.

U.S. inflation rose 2.6% on an annual basis last month, representing an uptick from September when the Federal Reserve began cutting interest rates amid signs of cooling prices and a weaker labor market.