The Federal Open Market Committee announced it did not change rates at its two-day meeting, which ended yesterday, and maintained that conditions “are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period.”
The target range for federal funds remains zero to 0.25%.
The statement issued by the Fed said “economic activity has continued to strengthen and that the deterioration in the labor market is abating.”
Personal spending is growing moderately, held back by the weakness in the job market.
“Although the pace of economic recovery is likely to be moderate for a time, the committee anticipates a gradual return to higher levels of resource utilization in a context of price stability.”
Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City president Thomas M. Hoenig voted against the actions, the statement said, because he believes that “economic and financial conditions had changed sufficiently that the expectation of exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period was no longer warranted.”
