PALO ALTO, Calif. — Federal Reserve officials are walking a narrow line, trying to convince the public that they’re committed to coaxing prices and wages higher without inspiring investors to expect interest rate cuts.



The central bank aims for 2 percent inflation, a level that’s low enough for consumer comfort but high enough to guard against economy-damaging price declines. The Fed has struggled for years to hit that target.

Price increases excluding volatile food and fuel came in at just 1.6 percent for the year through March, and consumer expectations for inflation have been hovering at low levels. Those developments have caught the White House’s attention: Earlier this week, President Trump cited low inflation in urging the Fed to cut rates and inject some stimulus into the economy. On Friday, Vice President Mike Pence said in a CNBC interview that it “might be time” for the Fed to consider cutting rates because “we just don’t see any inflation in this economy at all.”

The Fed indicated this week that it was not ready to cut — or raise — interest rates, and Fed Chairman Jerome H. Powell said he expects price gains to eventually emerge. But ongoing weak inflation spurred Fed regional presidents Charles Evans and James Bullard to sound a cautious tone, even as they, too, urged inaction.