WASHINGTON, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Federal Reserve warned Monday that it may fail to bring inflation back to its 2 percent target, as recent data suggest that progress on lowering inflation "may be stalling."

The U.S. personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, the Fed's preferred inflation measure, rose 2.3 percent year-on-year in October, the U.S. Commerce Department reported Friday.

The core PCE price index, excluding food and energy, rose 2.8 percent in October from last year, slightly up from 2.7 in September, and remained above the 2-percent target.

"While the recent increase and the level of inflation raise concerns that it may be getting stuck above the FOMC's 2 percent goal, let me emphasize that this is a risk but not a certainty," said Christopher Waller, a member of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the central bank's policy-setting body.

"Overall, I feel like an MMA fighter who keeps getting inflation in a choke hold, waiting for it to tap out yet it keeps slipping out of my grasp at the last minute," he added, reassuring that the inflation will continue on its downward path to 2 percent over the medium term, citing recent data.

New York Fed President John Williams, another member of the FOMC, said Monday that achieving the inflation target would require some time due to uneven progress. "If we've learned anything over the past five years, it's that the outlook remains highly uncertain."

Such risk "has raised concerns that the FOMC should consider holding the policy rate constant at our upcoming meeting to collect more information about the future path of inflation and the economy," Waller noted.

The Fed will hold its final monetary policy meeting of the year on Dec. 17-18.

After its Sept. 17-18 meeting, the central bank cut the target range for the federal funds rate by 50 basis points, marking the first rate cut in over four years and signaling the start of an easing cycle. At its Nov. 6-7 meeting, the Fed lowered the target range by 25 basis points to 4.5-4.75 percent.

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group's FedWatch Tool, a barometer for the market's expectation of the Fed funds target rate, shows that as of Monday evening, the market expects a 75 percent probability that the Fed will cut interest rates by 25 basis points at the upcoming meeting. Enditem

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