Forget about rate cuts this year. The Federal Reserve is not budging, no matter how much Wall Street begs for a break. Inflation is being stubborn, the labor market refuses to chill, and the government is racking up deficits like there’s no tomorrow.

How embarrassing would it be for the Federal Reserve to raise rates this year? Could it admit that its aggressive rate reductions last year, including a cut as recently as last month, were a mistake,

High interest rates and the rising cost of funding were already a top concern for CFOs. Now, that concern could grow following a strong December jobs report—one of the key pieces of data assessed by the Federal Reserve—that has led some economists to predict there will be fewer rate cuts this year,