Fed officials consider rate hike with potential pause amid banking turmoil and cooling inflation.

Federal Reserve officials are expected to raise interest rates by a quarter percentage point next month and signal a potential pause from the steepest hiking campaign in decades. Policymakers across the hawkish and dovish ends of the spectrum stress that inflation is still too high and the US central bank has more work to do. But there’s also concern that fallout from recent bank failures will slow the economy. What officials do beyond the May 2-3 meeting will hinge on what happens with the economy, which so far has weathered higher borrowing costs.