The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge moved slightly higher in November — but not as much as economists were expecting, an indication that price hikes aren’t accelerating in a worrisome fashion.

Fed chair Jerome Powell says inflation and interest rates will be higher next year than previously thought. If anyone should know where inflation’s headed, it’s the Federal Reserve. Yet this week’s meeting underscored the opposite: Policymakers are less certain than ever and they don’t exactly know how to prevent prices from roaring back.