The federal funds rate target remains between 0.25% and 0.50%, following the two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting, which ended Wednesday.
In its statement, the FOMC said it saw more strength in the labor market, while "economic growth slowed late last year."
The panel said inflation will stay low in the short-term, partly due to falling energy prices, but in the medium-term will reach the Fed's 2% target, "as the transitory effects of declines in energy and import prices dissipate and the labor market strengthens further."
The statement said the FOMC "is closely monitoring global economic and financial developments and is assessing their implications for the labor market and inflation, and for the balance of risks to the outlook."
"Realized and expected economic conditions" will be used to determine future rates, the statement said, noting it will use "a wide range of information, including measures of labor market conditions, indicators of inflation pressures and inflation expectations, and readings on financial and international developments."
Again, the statement said increases in the federal funds rate will be gradual and the rate "is likely to remain, for some time, below levels that are expected to prevail in the longer run."
