Federal Reserve officials said inflation has fallen further toward their target level in recent months but signaled that they expect to cut their benchmark interest rate just once this year.

The policymakers’ forecast for one rate cut was down from a previous forecast of three, likely because inflation, despite having cooled in the past two months, remains persistently elevated. The Fed said the economy is growing at a solid pace while hiring has “remained strong.”

The officials also noted that in recent months there has been “modest further progress” toward its 2% inflation target.

That is a more positive assessment than after the Fed’s previous meeting.

Inflation in the United States eased in May for a second straight month, a hopeful sign that an acceleration of prices that occurred early this year may have passed.

The trend, if it holds, could move the Federal Reserve closer to cutting its benchmark interest rate from its 23-year peak. Consumer prices excluding volatile food and energy costs — the closely watched “core” index — rose 0.2% from April to May.

That was the smallest such increase since October.

Even as overall inflation moderates, such necessities as groceries, rent and health care are much pricier than they were three years ago — a continuing source of public discontent and a political threat to President Joe Biden’s re-election bid.

Across the U.S., thieves have been targeting electric-vehicle charging stations, intent on stealing the cables, which contain copper wiring.

The price of copper is near a record high on global markets, which means criminals stand to collect rising sums of cash from selling the material.

The stolen cables often disable entire charging stations. Broken-down chargers have emerged as the latest obstacle for U.S. automakers in their effort to convert more Americans to EVs despite public anxiety about a scarcity of charging stations.

Authorities anticipate that commercial shipping traffic through the Port of Baltimore will soon return to normal levels after its main channel fully reopened earlier this week. The reopening followed a roughly $160 million cleanup after the massive bridge collapsed into the channel in March. Some shipping companies rerouted cargo to other ports following the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse.

But U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says he believes they will return to Baltimore with the channel restored.