JUNE 15, 2023:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Inflation may be cooling — just not yet fast enough for the Federal Reserve. Chair Jerome Powell offered a nuanced view Wednesday (June 14, 2023) of how the Fed intends to address its core challenge at a time when inflation is both way below its peak but still well above the central bank’s 2% target: Give it more time, and maybe some help from additional interest rate hikes. Yet he also suggested that the trends that are needed to further slow inflation, from lower rents to slower-growing wages, are starting to click into place. As a result, the Fed decided to forgo another increase in its benchmark interest rate. The pause followed 10 straight hikes in 15 months.
JUNE 14, 2023, UPDATE:
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve kept its key interest rate unchanged after having raised it 10 straight times to combat high inflation. But in a surprise move (June 14, 2023), the Fed signaled that it may raise rates twice more this year, beginning as soon as next month. The Fed’s move to leave its benchmark rate at about 5.1%, its highest level in 16 years, suggests that it believes the much higher borrowing rates it’s engineered have made some progress in taming inflation. But top Fed officials want to take time to more fully assess how their rate hikes have affected inflation and the economy. The central bank’s 18 policymakers envision raising its key rate by an additional half-point this year, to about 5.6%.
JUNE 14, 2023:
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve, having raised interest rates at the fastest pace in four decades, is poised Wednesday (June 14, 2023) to leave rates alone for the first time in 15 months to allow time to gauge the impact of its aggressive drive to tame inflation. Yet top Fed officials have made clear that any such pause may be brief — more of a “skip” — with another rate hike likely as soon as their next meeting in late July. Fed Chair Jerome Powell and other top policymakers have also indicated that they want to assess how much a pullback in bank lending might be weakening the economy.
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