Lena Petrova: December Rate Cut No Longer Certain, Inflation vs. Jobs Split the Fed

For months, the financial world anticipated a comforting certainty: a December interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve. Following two earlier cuts in the year and encouraging signs that inflation was finally cooling, the stage seemed set for a much-needed boost to the economy. But now, that certainty has evaporated, replaced by a deep chasm of uncertainty and an internal struggle within the Fed itself. The nineteen policymakers of the Federal Reserve are currently locked in a sharp division, grappling with a high-stakes decision that could define the economic landscape for years to come. On one side stands the camp…