The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) once again maintained the current target for the federal funds rate at 25-50 basis points in November. “The Committee judges that the case for an increase in the federal funds rate has continued to strengthen but decided, for the time being, to wait for some further evidence of continued progress toward its objectives,” said the FOMC in a statement following their Wednesday meeting.
The Committee noted that both inflation and economic activity had picked up from earlier in the year, although business fixed investment remained soft. “The Committee expects that, with gradual adjustments in the stance of monetary policy, economic activity will expand at a moderate pace and labor market conditions will strengthen somewhat further. Inflation is expected to rise to 2 percent over the medium term as the transitory effects of past declines in energy and import prices dissipate and the labor market strengthens further.”
Though the FOMC agreed to maintain the current federal funds rate, Kansas City Federal Reserve President Esther George and Cleveland Federal Reserve President Loretta Mester dissented from the action, preferring to raise the target rate by 25 basis points.
Read the FOMC statement.
