Fed focus shifting to stubbornly low US inflation

WASHINGTON (AP) — After years of struggling to reduce high unemployment, the Federal Reserve is grappling with another tough challenge: How to raise very low inflation.

So far, the Fed has had more success with the unemployment rate, which has fallen more than a percentage point to 7 percent since the Fed launched its bond-buying program last year. But inflation has declined since then and remains far below the Fed’s 2 percent target. Fed policymakers expect inflation to remain below the target through at least 2015.