The Federal Reserve kept its key interest rate unchanged and streamlined its policy statement to remove hints of potential future rate cuts.
Here are the main points from the Fed's interest rate decision announced on Wednesday:
The Federal Open Market Committee voted unanimously to keep the target range for the benchmark federal funds rate steady at 3.5% to 3.75%.
The 'dot plot', which reflects individual policymakers' interest rate projections, revealed a split among officials on whether to raise rates before the end of 2026. Nine out of 18 officials forecast a rate increase, pushing the median projection for 2026 up to 3.75% from 3.4% in March. The median projection also indicates a rate of 3.6% by 2027.
One Fed official did not submit any longer-run rate projections, while another did not provide a forecast for 2028.
The median forecast from Fed officials now sees core inflation at 3.3% by the end of 2026, higher than the 2.7% projected in March. The forecast for GDP growth was revised down to 2.2% from a prior estimate of 2.4%.
The Fed streamlined its policy statement, removing language about the potential for further rate adjustments. The statement now says, "The Committee is committed to achieving price stability."
The Fed noted that "economic activity has continued to expand at a solid pace despite elevated uncertainty stemming from factors such as conflict in the Middle East," adding that "productivity growth and capital investment have been strong."
Regarding the labor market, the Fed stated that job gains "have been in line with labor force growth, and the unemployment rate has changed little." It also acknowledged that inflation "remains elevated, partly reflecting supply shocks that have boosted prices in sectors such as energy."
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