fleury sent this report. the december notes from the us central bank s last meeting showed policymakers are feeling better about inflation. they agreed with investors that interest rates are at or near the peak for this cycle. they also agree it will come down this year. but they offered no clues as to how or when that will happen. to remind viewers, the federal reserve started raising rates in march 2022 to tame inflation. it did so 11 times, taking the benchmark rate to 5.5%. inflation, by the time of the last meeting, had dropped to 3.2% from a peak of 9.1%. meanwhile, new data out on wednesday showed the number ofjob openings in the united states fell to 8.79 million in november. this points to weaker demand for labour but is still well above pre covid levels. that is consistent with the fed s goal. to slow the economy without triggering a nasty recession. the feds first rate setting meeting this year starting january 30. investors are holding their breath is beneficial t
and i m martine croxall here in the studio. i ll be speaking to a former press officer to the queen for his thoughts as the nation continues to pay tribute. hello and welcome to cardiff, where king charles has begun his first official visit to wales as monarch by attending a service of prayer and reflection for queen elizabeth ii. in the senedd, an hour ago, about a thousand people were standing in sunshine and welcoming the king and the queen consort as they visited the queen consort as they visited the senedd. it was completely calm, quiet and still as everyone turned to watch the big screens when king charles addressed the parliament not just in english but also in welsh, a hugely symbolic moment for people here, to hear the king speaking welsh so fluently and talking about his mother and his memories of his time here in wales and what the country meant to him and to the royal family. when he left, there were lots of cheers. there were a few people who were not happy that