Mortgage rates inched lower Wednesday ahead of this afternoon’s announcement by the Fed. In economic news, the September Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.2%, in line with expectations. Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy components, increased 0.1%, a bit less than expected, and was 1.7% higher than one year ago. Payroll firm ADP estimated that 130,000 private sector jobs were created last month, slightly below forecast. The monthly Employment Report, originally scheduled for release this Friday, has been delayed until November 8th due to the government shutdown. The Federal Open Market Committee of the Fed wraps up its two-day meeting and will issue a policy statement at 2:00 PM. Investors will be watching for clues about the timing of Fed tapering of bond purchases designed to keep interest rates low. Many now believe the Fed will wait until early 2014 to make any policy changes. Results from today’s 7-year Treasury auction will be released at 1:00 PM.