The Federal Reserve’s course seems set, with steady, modest rate increases persisting through this year into next. The factor that could upset its plans is wage pressures, which are starting to flow through the economy.
The Fed wrapped up its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday by leaving rates on hold while signaling that it is still on a tightening path. Coming after March’s rate increase, this didn’t count as a surprise: The central bank has fallen into a pattern of only raising rates ever other meeting, when it also holds...