WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday, its third straight rate cut, and expressed caution about further cuts in the coming years.
The Federal Open Market Committee lowered the overnight borrowing rate to a target range of 4.25%-4.5%, returning to levels seen in December 2022 when rates were higher, a move that was widely expected.
While the decision itself is unattractive, the main question is what the Fed will signal about its future intentions as inflation stabilizes above target and economic growth is reasonably solid, conditions that are generally not consistent with policy easing. Signal.
In cutting interest rates by 25 basis points, the Fed said it was likely to cut interest rates only two more times in 2025, based on a closely watched “dot plot” matrix of individual members’ future interest rate expectations. The two cuts indicate the council had cut its intentions in half when the plot was last updated in September.
Assuming a 25 basis point increase, officials said there would be two more rate cuts in 2026 and one more in 2027. percentage points as the level has gradually drifted higher this year.
For the second meeting in a row, one Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) member raised objections: Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack wants the Fed to maintain its previous interest rates. Gov. Michelle Bowman voted no in November, the first time a governor has voted against a rate decision since 2005.
The federal funds rate determines what banks charge for overnight loans, but also affects a variety of consumer debt, such as auto loans, credit cards and mortgages.
The post-meeting statement contained few changes, with slight changes in language from the November meeting, except for adjustments to the “extent and timing” of further interest rate adjustments.
The downward revision came even as the committee raised its full-year gross domestic product growth forecast to 2.5%, half a percentage point higher than in September. However, officials expect GDP to slow to the long-term forecast of 1.8% over the next few years.
Other changes in the summary of economic forecasts led the committee to lower its expected unemployment rate for this year to 4.2%, while headline and core inflation, based on the Fed’s preferred indicator, were also raised to 2.4% and 2.8%, respectively, slightly higher than expected. . It is estimated to be higher than the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.
The committee’s decision comes as inflation not only remains above the central bank’s target, but the Atlanta Fed projects economic growth of 3.2% in the fourth quarter and the unemployment rate hovering around 4%.
While these conditions are most consistent with a scenario in which the Fed would raise or leave rates unchanged, officials are wary of the risks of keeping rates too high and the economy needlessly slowing. Despite macro data to the contrary, a Federal Reserve report earlier this month noted that economic growth had increased only “modestly” in recent weeks, with signs of inflation weakening and hiring slowing.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the rate cut was an effort to recalibrate policy because it didn’t need to be so stringent under the current circumstances.
With Wednesday’s move, the Fed will have cut its benchmark interest rate by a full percentage point since September, during which it took the unusual step of cutting interest rates by half a percentage point. The Fed generally likes to move up and down in smaller quarter-percentage increments when weighing the impact of its actions.
Despite the sharp move lower, the market took the opposite tack.
Mortgage rates and Treasury yields have both risen sharply during this period, possibly signaling that the market does not believe the Fed will be able to cut rates significantly. The policy-sensitive 2-year Treasury note recently yielded 4.215%, which is at the upper limit of the Fed’s rate adjustment on Wednesday.
