Federal Reserve policymakers didn’t rock the boat on Wednesday, opting yet again to keep interest rates steady as they wait for more clarity on the state of the U.S. economy.
At the conclusion of a two-day policy meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee voted to keep its target for the federal-funds rate at 4.25% to 4.50%, as investors expected. Ahead of the decision, the interest-rate futures market had the odds that rates wouldn’t change at 97%.
Uncertainty among businesses and consumers has faded some since the Fed’s policy meeting in June, with unemployment remaining low and economic growth rebounding in the second quarter. But inflation has ticked up slightly from its April low point of 2.2%, which was still above the Fed’s 2% target, and price growth is expected to trend higher in the coming months as higher tariffs start to weigh on businesses.