Ahead of elections, US Federal Reserve shifts interest rates dramatically to deal with worst inflation

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by half of a percentage point on Wednesday, kicking off what is expected to be a steady easing of monetary policy with a larger-than-usual reduction in borrowing costs that followed growing unease about the health of the job market. "The committee has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2%, and judges that the risks to achieving its employment and inflation goals are roughly in balance," policymakers on the US central bank's rate-setting committee said in their latest statement, which drew a dissent from Governor Michelle Bowman who favoured only a quarter-percentage-point cut.