Inflation is cooling and the job market is stabilizing

But new data released on Wednesday morning showed price growth cooled slightly in May, cheering markets and the White House.

“Prices are still too high, but today’s report shows welcome progress on lowering inflation, which was zero on a monthly basis in May and is down nearly two-thirds from its peak,” the president said in a statement.

The Biden campaign was far more effusive, saying in a statement that under Mr. Biden “wages are rising, inflation is being reined in, and America’s economy is the strongest in the world.”

The latest inflation data also set off a new round of Mr. Biden’s allies calling for the Fed to commence cutting rates.

“Today’s release was welcome news that inflation is cooling, and data last week showed a stable and strong job market. Now it’s time to make sure the benefit of that is reaching American families,” Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, a Democrat and the chair of the Joint Economic Committee, said in a release.

“The Fed has made it clear that it isn’t ready to lower interest rates,” he added. “But unnecessarily high rates are holding back small business growth, hurting workers, and worsening the housing crisis. It is time for the Fed to lower interest rates before it causes irreparable harm to the U.S. economy.”

Few investors or economists expect Fed officials to cut interest rates on Wednesday from their current range of 5.25 to 5.5 percent. But markets are now more confident that a rate cut could come in September if inflation continues to moderate.