Federal Reserve lifts benchmark interest rate ¼ point
WASHINGTON» The Federal Reserve lifted its benchmark interest rate on Wednesday by a quarter point to a range of 1.25 to 1.5 percent, a widely expected move that the central bank said is happening because America’s economy continues to improve. This is the fifth rate increase since the bank cut the rate to nearly zero during the financial crisis of 2008.
The Fed cast the decision as a positive signal that the U.S. economy is healthy. “The labor market has continued to strengthen” and “economic activity has been rising at a solid rate,” the Fed said in a statement.
Unemployment is now at the lowest level since 2000, growth is picking up and inflation remains tame. The Fed bumped up its expectations for growth this year and next. The economy is on track to expand 2.5 percent this year and next year, the Fed now says. Its previous estimate was 2.1 percent expansion in 2018. Unemployment is expected to fall even further to below 4 percent in 2018.
“At the moment, the U.S. economy is performing well,” Fed Chair Janet Yellen said later in the afternoon during her final Fed news conference. “There’s less to lose sleep about now than has been true for quite some time.”
Yellen, who is stepping down in early
February, noted that she was working toward a smooth transition for her successor. President Donald Trump selected Jerome “Jay” Powell, a Fed governor, to replace Yellen. “I am confident that [Powell] is as deeply committed as I have been to the Federal Reserve’s vital public mission, she said.
Yellen said that Fed governors expect a “modest” increase in growth from the tax plan that the Republican-controlled Congress is finalizing. “My colleagues and I are in line with the general expectation among most economists that the type of tax changes that are likely to be enacted would tend to provide some modest lift to GDP growth in the coming years,” Yellen said.
The stock market was sitting at record highs as the Fed made its announcement. Nearly everyone expected the Fed to raise the rate. Most Wall Street investors and economists were paying close attention to the Fed’s economic forecasts for next year. With Trump’s tax plan looking increasingly likely to pass Congress, growth is expected to pick up even more, putting pressure on the central bank to raise rates faster. But the Fed still ex- pects only three rate increases next year. The central bank is also continuing with its spelled-out plan to trim its balance sheet slightly in 2018.
“The [Fed] statement was as dull as it gets, which is likely what Janet Yellen exactly wanted as she passes on the job to Jerome Powell,” said Peter Boockvar, managing director of the Lindsey Group in Virginia.
So far, the rate hikes have not caused any noticeable pain in the economy or markets. But WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez warned that people with a lot of credit card debt will start to feel pinched as rates go up.
“As the interest rates rise, so does the cost of borrowing. Credit card users will feel the impact the earliest, since the rate hike will add another $1.46 billion in finances charges during 2018 alone,” Gonzalez said.