Higher inflation readings reported on Wednesday left Federal Reserve officials telling U.S. lawmakers, business executives and the public that they may be waiting longer than they had thought for relief from high interest rates,

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday that the January consumer-price index data fit with an overall picture that the Fed is “close but not there” on getting inflation back to its 2% target.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the latest consumer price data show that while the central bank has made substantial progress toward taming inflation, there is still more work to do.