The Indicator is a podcast where Daily Economic News is about what matters to you.

Workers have been feeling the sting of inflation.

So as a new administration promises action on the cost of living, taxes, and home prices,

the S&P 500 biggest post-election day spike ever,

follow all the big changes and what they mean for you.

Make America affordable again.

Listen to The Indicator, the Daily Economics podcast from NPR.

The Federal Reserve, the central bank of the U.S., meets this week. On the table is whether it should

lower its main interest rate

in an effort to keep the economy strong. After years of raising rates to higher levels that Americans

saw since before the Great Recession, the Fed is now bringing them down, but it's a delicate

balance. The Fed has to keep markets calm about its decisions while working with incomplete data

about where the economy stands across many different data points like unemployment and prices.

Here's Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaking in November.

The economy is not sending any signals that we need to be in a hurry to lower rates.

The strength we're currently seeing in the economy gives us the ability to approach our decisions carefully. Now, we've been talking a lot about interest rates and inflation in the last few years,

but how does all this high-level economic policy actually affect your bottom line? What does it

really mean for your family and your bank account? That's what we're digging into today. I'm

Jen White. You're listening to the 1A podcast

where we get to the heart of the story.

Stay with us.

We've got a lot to get into.

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