On Thursday, at the end of its November meeting, the Fed announced a reduction of 0.25 percentage points in the federal funds rate, or the rate at which banks lend each other money overnight. The move follows an initial cut of half a percentage point in September.

Wholesale prices in the US rose last month, remaining low but suggesting that the American economy has yet to completely vanquish inflationary pressure. Thursday’s report from the Labor Department showed that its producer price index — which tracks inflation before it hits consumers — rose 0.