U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks at an annual meeting of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) in Philadelphia on Tuesday.

The Federal Reserve will almost certainly cut its key interest rate on Wednesday and could signal it expects another cut in December as the central bank seeks to invigorate the job market.

Here’s what to know about the Fed’s meeting on Wednesday:

The Fed’s next meeting is happening Wednesday, Oct. 29, and is likely to end with another cut to the key interest rate, which would be the second cut of the year, with a third projected to come in December.

The current rate is at 4.1%, and the Fed is widely expected to reduce it to about 3.9% Wednesday.

A key rate cut could benefit consumers by bringing down borrowing costs for mortgages and auto loans.

Since Fed chair Jerome Powell strongly signaled in late August that rate cuts were likely this year, the average 30-year mortgage rate has fallen to about 6.2% from 6.6%.

FILE - A gold plated seal outside inside the Eccles Building, the place of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and of the Federal Open Market Committee, May 19, 2016 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Brooks Kraft/ Getty Images)

The central bank looks at hiring, inflation, and spending trends when making its decision. It’s assessing these trends right now without most of the government data it relies on to gauge the health of the economy after the flow of information was cut off on Oct. 1 with the shutdown.

The release of September's jobs report has been postponed because of the government shutdown. And the White House said last week October's inflation figure may not even be compiled.