The Federal Reserve is expected to cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point Wednesday, as policymakers work to shore up the softening job market.

That would be the Fed's second rate cut in six weeks, after holding rates steady for much of the year in an effort to curb stubborn inflation.

Prices are still climbing faster than the central bank would like, but for now, policymakers are more concerned with preventing a big jump in unemployment.

A number of prominent corporations have announced job cuts in recent days. Amazon announced plans to cut 14,000 corporate positions. (Amazon is a financial supporter of NPR and pays to distribute some of our content.) Target said last week it's cutting about 1000 corporate jobs and leaving another 800 jobs unfilled. And the feder

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