Nick Timiraos, a prominent Wall Street Journal journalist who is the US Federal Reserve's mouthpiece, recently wrote that consumer prices picked up slightly in October after posting the slowest pace of growth in 3.5 years last month, suggesting that inflation continues to decline on an uneven and bumpy path. The latest report may not be enough to stop the Fed from cutting interest rates again in December. But, combined with solid consumer spending and steady hiring, the strengthening of inflation could set off a bigger debate at officials' next meeting about whether to slow the pace of rate cuts early next year.