US ECONOMY / FED LEAVES KEY RATE UNCHANGED

The Federal Reserve has left its key policy rate unchanged but signaled that it plans to keep responding to the strong US economy with more interest rate hikes. The next rate increase is expected in December. The Fed kept its benchmark rate in a range of two percent to 2.25 percent. A statement it issued on Thursday, Nov. 8, after its latest policy meeting portrayed the economy as robust, with healthy job growth, low unemployment, solid consumer spending and inflation near the Fed’s two percent target. Despite a US trade war with key nations, weaker corporate investment and a sluggish housing market, the Fed is showing confidence in the economy’s resilience. To help control inflation, it has projected three rate increases in 2019 after an expected fourth hike of the year next month. /