Federal Reserve optimistic about economy

which is the first step toward prepping markets for another rate hike.”

Some also suggested that the Fed’s brighter outlook suggests that it has become less concerned that a British exit from the EU — commonly dubbed “Brexit” — would seriously undermine the U.S. or global economy.

The statement signals that the Fed “does not think that Brexit will be a significant hindrance for the U.S. economy,” said Carl Tannenbaum, chief economist at Northern Trust.

Analysts said the next important signal of the Fed’s thinking could come when Chair Janet Yellen speaks at an annual central bank conference in late August in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Stock averages posted a modest increase Wednesday after the statement was issued at 2 p.m. before drifting lower later in the afternoon. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note dipped from 1.53 percent to 1.51 percent.

The decision to leave its key rate unchanged in a range of 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent was approved on a 9-1 vote.

Esther George, the president of the Fed’s Kansas City regional bank, dissented for the third time this year, arguing for an immediate quarterpoint rate hike.

A few months ago, it was widely assumed that the Fed would have resumed raising rates by now. But that was before the U.S. government issued the bleak May jobs report and Britain’s vote last month to quit the EU triggered a brief investor panic.

Since then, though, a resurgent U.S. economy, the bounce-back in hiring and record highs for stocks have led many economists to predict a Fed move by December if not sooner. In June, employers added 287,000 jobs, the most since October 2015.

In December, when the Fed raised its benchmark rate from a record low near zero, it also laid out a timetable for up to four additional rate hikes this year. But intensified fears about China’s economy and a plunge in oil prices sent markets sinking and led the Fed to delay further action.

Once the markets stabilized, the Fed signaled a likely rate increase by midyear. Anemic hiring in April and May, though, raised concerns, and it left rates alone. The central bank was also affected by Britain’s forthcoming vote on whether to leave the EU, anticipation of which had rattled investors.