Federal Reserve officials announced on Wednesday the central bank wouldn’t raise the Federal funds rate, keeping it in the range of 5.25% to 5.5%. The Fed has raised the rate 11 times since early 2022, when U.S. inflation spiked.
Inflation isn’t the beast it was roughly a year ago, when it peaked at an annualized 9.1% in June 2022, but it hasn’t been completely tamed to the Fed’s satisfaction either. The central bank’s longstanding stated goal is an inflation rate of 2%.
In August, the consumer price index ticked up to an annual increase of 3.7% compared to July’s increase of 3.2%, buoyed by a spike…