(NewsNation) — With inflation accelerating and the job market faltering, the Federal Reserve faces a potential lose-lose scenario as it prepares to cut interest rates next week.

Consumer prices rose 2.9% in August from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Thursday, the fastest annual pace since January. That's well above the Fed's 2% target, but a weakening job market has boxed policymakers into a difficult corner.

Keep rates too high for too long, and more Americans could lose their jobs. Cut too soon and elevated inflation may linger, with the full impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs still unclear.

"The Federal Reserve is in a difficult situation as the new data this morning show signs that its inflation and full employment mandates are both moving in the wrong direction,"

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