WASHINGTON–The Federal Reserve is easing its foot a bit further off the brake.
But it appears far from ready to step on the economy’s accelerator.
The Fed, as expected, raised its key short-term interest rate by a quarter percentage point Wednesday, throttling back from a half-point hike in December and acknowledging that a historic inflation spike is slowing.
“Inflation has eased somewhat but remains elevated,” the Fed said in a statement after a two-day meeting.
But the central bank appears reluctant to signal that its aggressive campaign to beat back price increases is nearing an end even as it begins to balance the benefits of the initiative with growing recession risks.
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In a statement after a two-day meeting, the Fed repeated that “ongoing (rate) increases…will be appropriate” to bring down yearly inflation to the Fed’s 2% goal. Some economists expected the Fed instead to say “additional increases” would be needed, hinting the Fed is close to winding down the hiking cycle.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell is set to provide more clues about the central bank’s plans at a 2:30 p.m. news conference.
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