Just a few weeks ago, the path ahead for the Federal Reserve looked straightforward: With inflation cooling and the job market slowing, the Fed appeared on track to steadily cut interest rates.

It’s a huge frustration for all the folks that were excited to jump in and buy homes, once the Feds started cutting interest rates,” said Lara Rhame, chief economist at FS Investments.

Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee on Thursday reiterated his support for further interest rate cuts and his openness to doing them more slowly, remarks that underscore the U.S. central bank's debate that it's not about whether,