The U.S. central bank on Wednesday kicked off an anticipated series of interest rate cuts with a larger-than-usual half-percentage-point reduction that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said was meant to show policymakers' commitment to sustaining a low unemployment rate now that inflation has eased.

Here’s how inflation and the cost of borrowing have changed since the Fed started raising interest rates in March 2022. After peaking at 9.1% in June 2022, inflation has eased, falling to a three-year low of 2.5% in August, just above the Fed’s 2% target rate.

The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rates half a percentage point Wednesday, a strong move that reverses two years of rate increases and giving consumers new hope that borrowing costs will come down. Its target rate was 5.25% to 5.5%. It will now be in the range of 4.75% to 5%.