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Fed begins April meeting, expected to hold rates
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) – the Fed's monetary-policy setting arm – begins its April meeting today and is expected to hold the federal funds target rate range at its current 0 percent to 0.25 percent for the foreseeable future. The rate has remained at its current level since March 2020.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has previously outlined three standards that must be met before the FOMC will consider raising rates:
- inflation has reached 2 percent and stayed at that level for some time;
- longer‑term inflation expectations remain well anchored at 2 percent; and
- the labor market has sufficiently recovered.
Minutes from the committee's meeting last month, revealed building economic optimism, but cautioned the path of the economy would depend significantly on the course of the virus – including progress on vaccinations – and that the ongoing public health crisis would continue to weigh on economic activity, employment, and inflation and posed considerable risks to the economic outlook.
The FOMC's two-day meeting will conclude tomorrow; the committee is scheduled to next meet June 15-16.
Access up-to-date economic updates from NAFCU's award-winning research team here.