FOMC Holds Fed Funds Rate Steady
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
- Federal funds rate target range is unchanged at the highest level since March 2001.
- Committee expresses caution regarding next rate move.
- Two percent inflation continues to be Fed’s primary goal.
At today’s meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, the target range for the Federal funds rate was left unchanged at 5.25% - 5.50%. It was raised in August from a range of 5.00% - 5.25%. The rate has been lifted from close to zero in March 2022. Today’s action matched expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey.
Each member of the FOMC voted in favor of today’s action.
The text accompanying today’s meeting stated, “The Committee does not expect it will be appropriate to reduce the target range until it has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2 percent.”
“The Committee seeks to achieve maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2 percent over the longer run. The Committee judges that the risks to achieving its employment and inflation goals are moving into better balance. The economic outlook is uncertain, and the Committee remains highly attentive to inflation risks.”
In addition, the Fed again wrote, “… the Committee will continue reducing its holdings of Treasury securities and agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities, as described in its previously announced plans. The Committee is strongly committed to returning inflation to its 2 percent objective.”
Tom Moeller
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Prior to joining Haver Analytics in 2000, Mr. Moeller worked as the Economist at Chancellor Capital Management from 1985 to 1999. There, he developed comprehensive economic forecasts and interpreted economic data for equity and fixed income portfolio managers. Also at Chancellor, Mr. Moeller worked as an equity analyst and was responsible for researching and rating companies in the economically sensitive automobile and housing industries for investment in Chancellor’s equity portfolio. Prior to joining Chancellor, Mr. Moeller was an Economist at Citibank from 1979 to 1984. He also analyzed pricing behavior in the metals industry for the Council on Wage and Price Stability in Washington, D.C. In 1999, Mr. Moeller received the award for most accurate forecast from the Forecasters' Club of New York. From 1990 to 1992 he was President of the New York Association for Business Economists. Mr. Moeller earned an M.B.A. in Finance from Fordham University, where he graduated in 1987. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from George Washington University.
More Economy in Brief
