Fed to study new inflation data this week for rate cut timeline [Video]

WASHINGTON — After Federal Reserve officials meet this week, a statement they will issue may suggest that they’ve seen meaningful progress on inflation this year — a prelude to eventual interest rate cuts.

Yet it’s hard to say, because the officials themselves may not know for sure until they begin their meeting. That’s because the government’s latest snapshot of U.S. inflation will be released Wednesday morning, just before the Fed begins the second day of its policy discussions.

One key issue is a sentence the Fed added to its statement after its last meeting May 1: It said “there has been a lack of further progress” in bringing inflation back to the central bank’s 2% target.

Inflation had come in uncomfortably high in the first three months of this year, dimming …