Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell announced Wednesday, as expected, that the Federal Open Market Committee has decided to raise the short-term interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point.
“Inflation has eased somewhat but remains elevated,” the Federal Reserve Bank said in a statement issued following its two-day meeting, adding, “ongoing increases . . . will be appropriate,” making it clear this is not the last rate hike.
Although it is the smallest such increase in 11 months, it is also the eighth month in a row that the Fed has raised the rate in its effort to slow inflation.
The move brings the federal funds rate to a range of 4.5 percent to 4.75 percent, up from nearly zero last March.
Inflation does appear to be slowing gradually, having fallen to 6.5 percent in December 2022 from 7.1 percent the previous month, following a 40-year high of 9.1 percent last June.
