Fresh inflation data released on Wednesday will give Federal Reserve officials one last glimpse at how their battle against rapid price increases is progressing before they head into their final policy meeting of the year.

Fed policymakers will decide whether or not to cut interest rates for a third and final time this year at their Dec. 17-18 gathering, and this report could be a critical factor as they make that choice.

Inflation has been cooling notably after peaking in the summer of 2022. But while progress had been proceeding steadily earlier this year, it has shown signs of stalling in recent months.

That makes the November inflation report important. Economists expect that Consumer Price Index inflation will increase slightly on an overall basis, speeding up to 2.7 percent from 2.6 percent previously. And after stripping out food and fuel costs, they expect “core” inflation to climb at the same pace as it did in October when measuring both month-over-month and year-over-year.

Fed officials have been clear that they are watching this report as they consider what comes next with interest rates. Policymakers are determined to drive inflation back to 2 percent, as measured by a different but related price index. Given that, the recent slow progress has caught their attention.

“Recent data have raised the possibility that progress on inflation may be stalling at a level meaningfully above 2 percent,” Christopher Waller, a Fed governor, said in a recent speech.