The Federal Reserve has held its key interest rate steady at a 23-year high for a year—and while it decided again on Wednesday to keep it unchanged, it signaled that a cut could be on the way soon. Fed-watchers weren't expecting a rate cut Wednesday, but they were looking for signs that the central bank plans to deliver a cut at its next meeting, in September, USA Today reports. In a post-meeting statement, the Fed said "the risks to achieving its employment and inflation goals continue to move into better balance," per CNBC. "Inflation has eased over the past year but remains somewhat elevated."
The Fed said that in recent months, "there has been some further progress toward" its goal of reducing inflation to 2%. That's a change from June, when the Fed said there had been only "modest" progress toward the goal, CNBC reports.
- The AP notes that Democratic officials have been pushing for rate cuts to "bolster the economy and prevent job cuts," while Donald Trump and other Republicans have argued against rate cuts before the November election, saying they would come across as politically motivated.
- Nick Timiraos at the Wall Street Journal said earlier this week that the Wednesday meeting would be "one of the most consequential in a while." He said a rate cut would be unlikely because the next cut will "likely be the first reduction in a sequence to recalibrate rates lower," and officials want to see more evidence that inflation is definitely cooling before crossing the "rate-cut threshold."
(More
Federal Reserve stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
