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The Federal Reserve on Wednesday announced that it was again leaving interest rates unchanged, continuing a pause in lieu of cutting rates as inflation continues to burden American consumers and businesses.
Initsstatement,theFederalOpenMarketCommittee(FOMC)saiditwaskeepingratesat“5-1/4to5-1/2percent”citinginflationthat“remainselevated”andan“uncertain”economicoutlook.
TheFed’sdecisionmeanstheprojectionsissuedattheendof2023callingforasmanyasfiveratecutsin2024wereoverlyrosypipedreamsthatwronglyassumedtheeffectsoftheDemocrats’spendingbingewouldsubside.Now,itseemsthere’shopeforjustonecutthisyear,accordingtothelatestprojectionsfromtheFOMC.
SincePresidentJoeBidentookoffice,theFedhasraisedinterestratestothehighestlevelsinceearly2001initsfalteringattempttowrangleinflationdowntoagoalofjust2.0percent.AccordingtotheMayConsumerPriceIndex(CPI)reportreleasedearlieronWednesday,thelast12monthssawinflationrise3.3percent.
Asusual,theFOMCsaidthefollowingaboutitsfuture
