Tag: Federal Reserve

The Federal Reserve is meeting today to decide its next move on interest rates, a policy that will impact millions of consumers and businesses that rely on loans, credit cards and other borrowing. The decision comes after the central bank has raised the federal funds rate 11 times since March 2022, pushing mortgage rates to their highest levels in decades and credit card APRs to record heights. The string of interest rate hikes reflects the Fed's efforts to douse the hottest inflation in four decades, which reached 9.1% in June 2022. Although inflation has eased significantly since then, it remains higher than the central bank's goal of 2%, raising questions about whether the improvement will be enough to convince the Fed to hold steady for now.  Here's...

The Federal Reserve is pausing its extended campaign against inflation, holding its benchmark interest rate steady and giving borrowers a breather after 11 hikes since March 2022. The Fed said it will hold the federal funds rate in a range of 5.25% to 5.5%, the same level as it announced at its last meeting, in July. Economists had expected the central bank to hold its benchmark rate steady today, according to economists polled by financial data service FactSet. Even though the Fed isn't boosting rates today, borrowing costs are at their highest levels in 22 years, making it more expensive for Americans to take out loans like mortgages and to carry credit card debt. The central bank is seeking to tame the hottest inflation in four decades by damping demand for purchases like homes and car...