Barclays economists predict that the Fed will start cutting interest rates earlier than previously thought, based on this week's inflation data. They predict that the start time will be in March instead of their previous prediction of June. "Given the recent progress on inflation, we believe that the FOMC will be comfortable cutting interest rates without needing to see a significant weakening in the economy or labor market," Marc Giannoni and Jonathan Millar wrote in a research report on Friday. As before, they expect the Fed to cut rates by 25 basis points at every other meeting. This prediction is based on the premise that the economy is gradually slowing down and that the unemployment rate is slightly higher than the Fed's long-term estimate (3.5%-4.3% as of December).