WASHINGTON – The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring , even as inflation stays elevated.

But Fed Chair Jerome Powell also cautioned that further rate cuts weren’t guaranteed, citing the government shutdown’s interruption of economic reports and sharp divisions among 19 Fed officials who participate in the central bank's interest-rate deliberations.

Speaking to reporters after the Fed announced its rate decision, Powell said there were “strongly differing views about how to proceed in December” at its next meeting and a further reduction in the benchmark rate is not “a foregone conclusion – far from it.”

The rate cut – a quarter of a point – brings the Fed's key rate down to about 3.9%, from

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