The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) highlighted that only a limited amount of interest rate increases would be appropriate, given current information on the economy. With the federal funds rate judged to be at or near the lower end of the range of estimates of the neutral rate, the Committee “could afford to be patient about further policy firming.” The ...

At its meeting today, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) unanimously voted to raise the target range for the federal funds rate to 2.25 to 2.5 percent. It was the fourth hike this year. However, the committee signaled only two rate increases next year, down from three in its previous projections. Committee members kept in the language that they expect ...

Banks are not basing decisions on how much to hold in reserve at the Federal Reserve Banks on a desire to earn the interest paid on excess reserves, according to a Fed survey of senior financial officers released today.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) signaled that an interest rate increase is likely at next month’s meeting, but that the timing of increases over the next year is more uncertain. “Almost all participants expressed the view that another increase in the target range for the federal funds rate was likely to be warranted fairly soon,” read the minutes from ...

At its meeting today, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) unanimously voted to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 2.0 to 2.25 percent. The committee’s statement was similar to that of September, once again noting “that further gradual increases in the target range for the federal funds rate will be consistent with sustained expansion of economic ...

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) determined that further gradual increases of the federal funds rate “would most likely be consistent with a sustained economic expansion, strong labor market conditions, and inflation near 2 percent over the medium term,” according to the minutes from the September 25-26 meeting. Officials agreed to remove the sentence in the postmeeting statement describing that ...

The U.S. economic outlook is “remarkably positive,” Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said at a business economics conference today.

At its meeting today, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) unanimously voted to raise the target range for the federal funds rate to 2.0 to 2.25 percent. It was the third hike this year. The committee signaled one more increase this year as economic activity has been rising at a strong rate. Committee members expect “that further gradual increases in ...

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell issued a strong defense of the Federal Open Market Committee’s gradual path to normalizing interest rates today, emphasizing that this path addresses both the risk of acting too fast and choking off economic growth too soon and the risk of not tightening before inflation accelerates too quickly.

The Federal Open Market Committee judged that if the economy continues to perform in line with members’ outlook, “it would likely soon be appropriate to take another step in removing policy accommodation,” according to the minutes from the July 31-August 1 meeting. Committee members also noted that it would likely soon be appropriate to revise the characterization of the stance ...