Inflation eased once more in January but exceeded the expectations of Wall Street, indicating once again that the Federal Reserve’s trajectory toward interest rate cuts remains uncertain.

According to the report by the Labor Department on Tuesday, consumer prices increased by 3.1% in January compared to the previous year, a slight decrease from the 3.4% gain seen in December. This represented the lowest figure since June.

However, the consumer price index surpassed the anticipated 2.9%, which disappointed investors banking on an earlier rate cut by the Fed.