U.S. central bankers on Tuesday said they continue to believe inflation is heading down to their 2% target and signaled support for further interest rate cuts ahead, but none pushed strongly for or against doing so when they next meet to set rates in two weeks.

The Federal Open Market Committee is most likely to cut interest rates again to 4.25% to 4.5% on December 18 according to fixed income markets.

A top Federal Reserve official says he is leaning toward supporting an interest rate cut when the Fed meets in two weeks but that evidence of persistent inflation before then could cause him to change that view.

By Howard Schneider WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said on Monday he was inclined toward a cut in the benchmark interest rate at the central bank's Dec. 17-18 meeting as policy remained restrictive enough to keep putting downward pressure on inflation,

Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller said he was leaning toward favoring a cut in interest rates at the central bank’s meeting later this month, though he also said he could be open to arguments for holding rates steady.

Powell just a week after the meeting said the economy was "not sending any signals that we need to be in a hurry to lower rates."

"Unemployment is going to come down, growth is going to come up, inflation is going to come up," Deutsche Bank's chief US economist said.

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said Monday he is anticipating an interest rate cut in December but is concerned about recent trends on inflation that could change his mind.

The central bank governor said that while the recent uptick in inflation does raise concerns that price growth could get stuck above the Fed’s 2% goal, he doesn’t want to overreact.