Apple and other big U.S. companies reporting fatter profits than expected are helping stock indexes shave off more of their sharp losses from the start of the week.

President Donald Trump has pledged cheaper prices and lower interest rates, but an economy transformed by the pandemic will make those promises difficult to keep.

The Federal Reserve’s third interest rate cut of the year will likely have consequences for debt, savings, auto loans, mortgages and other forms of borrowing by consumers and businesses.

The Federal Reserve faces a cooling job market as well as persistently high prices, Chair Jerome Powell said in testimony to Congress, a shift in emphasis away from the Fed’s single-minded fight against inflation that suggests it's moving closer to cutting interest rates.

The nation’s economy slowed sharply last quarter to a 1.6% annual pace in the face of high interest rates, but consumers — the main driver of economic growth — kept spending at a solid pace.

After reaching 40-year highs over the summer, price increases in the U.S. are now steadily easing.

Friday’s report from the Commerce Department also showed that income, which provides the fuel for spending, rose 0.9% in September. The September report showed that consumer spending on durable goods such as autos shot up 3% in September. Spending on nondurable goods, like food and clothing, rose by a smaller 1.5%. The third quarter rebound was led by a record 40.7% increase in consumer spending in the third quarter. The spending and income report showed that inflation, as measured by the Federal Reserve's preferred gauge, was 0.2% in September and 1.4% over the past 12 months.