Falling inflation. Moderating wage growth. Resilient consumer spending.This is what a soft landing would look like.It is too soon to say whether the Federal Reserve will succeed in its effort to bring inflation under control without causing a recession. But recent economic data — including two reports released Friday — has looked more positive than even optimists had dared to hope a few months ago.Data from the Commerce Department on Friday showed that inflation continued to cool in June, even as consumer spending rose — signs that the economy retains substantial momentum 16 months into the Fed’s campaign to slow it down.Separate data from the Labor Department showed that wage growth slowed in the spring — an encouraging sign for policymakers who have been worried that rapid pay increases could feed into inflation.Fed officials have been raising interest rates for more than a year in an effort to wrest inflation under control. The data on Friday was the latest evidence that it is finally coming down meaningfully — and so far without a slump in demand that risks derailing the broader recovery or leading to widespread job losses.“There’s a lot of encouraging data — you’ve got wages softening, …
