The Federal Reserve is set to make its next interest rate decision on Wednesday, even as a near-total blackout of federal economic data continues amid the government shutdown.

The Labor Department, however, on Friday released one key report ahead of its meeting: the Consumer Price Index . That report showed that the inflation rate rose at a pace of 3% last month , cooler than expected, as the impact of President Trump's wide-ranging tariffs have so far been more muted than economists have forecast.

Economists say the softer inflation report likely opens the door to a rate cut on Wednesday.

"Concerns about tariffs driving prices higher are still not showing up in most categories," Scott Helfstein, Global X's head of investment strategy, said Friday in an email. "Nothing in the i

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