The Fed keeps rates between 5.25% and 5.5% for the fourth consecutive meeting

MADRID, 31 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the United States Federal Reserve (Fed) has decided to maintain interest rates in the target range of between 5.25% and 5.5%, at highest levels since January 2001, as reported by the central bank in a statement this Wednesday.

In this way, the institution has once again kept its monetary policy unchanged for the fourth consecutive meeting after the last increase of 25 basis points in the price of money carried out last July.

"The Committee will continue to carefully evaluate incoming information, the changing environment and the balance of risks," the central bank said.

Likewise, the decision-making body has indicated that it "does not expect it to be appropriate to reduce the target range until it has gained greater assurance that inflation is returning sustainably towards 2%."

In assessing the appropriate stance of monetary policy, the Committee has assured that it will continue to monitor the implications of incoming data for the macroeconomic picture.

The economy of the world's leading power experienced annualized growth of 4.9% of its GDP in the third quarter of 2023 compared to 2.1% in the previous section, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) .

As for the US labor market, it created 199,000 non-agricultural jobs during the month of November, which allowed unemployment to be reduced by two tenths, to 3.7%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor.

Thus, the unemployment rate in the US once again approached the minimum recorded in January and April, when it stood at 3.4%, which was its lowest rate since 1969.

For its part, the personal consumption expenditure price index, the variable preferred by the Fed to monitor inflation, stood at 2.6% year-on-year in December, the same figure as the previous month. The monthly rate recorded a rebound to 0.2% from the previous negative reading of 0.1%. The underlying variable closed at 2.9%, three tenths less.