The Federal Open Market Committee announced today that it would maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 5.25-5.5%.
In its statement, the FOMC said that “The Committee does not expect it will be appropriate to reduce the target range until it has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2 percent.”
Regarding the FOMC cutting rates, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell stated, “As labor market tightness has eased and inflation has declined over the past year, the risks to achieving our employment and inflation goals have moved toward better balance. The economic outlook is uncertain, however, and we remain highly attentive to inflation risks.” Powell also added that “So far this year, the data have not given us that greater confidence. The most recent inflation readings have been more favorable than earlier in the year, however, and there has been modest further progress toward our inflation objective. We will need to see more good data to bolster our confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2 percent.”
Read the Federal Reserve statement.
