Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will hold a press conference following the announcement that the agency will raise interest rates.
The Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the 10th time this cycle, following a two-day meeting with the reserve’s monetary policy committee. Currently, interest rates sit at 5%. The Fed will raise interest rates a quarter of a percentage point, to 5.25%. This is likely to be the last rate revision before the Fed pauses tightening.
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This move comes as the United States continues to beat back against high inflation rates as a possible recession looms ahead. A March employment report from the Federal Reserve indicated that 236,000 jobs were added, lower than the average, but the unemployment rate hit an ultra-low of 3.5%.
These conflicting numbers made it difficult to guess the Fed’s next move because a weak labor market would usually indicate the likelihood of pausing rate hikes. However, a red-hot labor market usually leads to an increase in interest rates in order to keep slowing it.
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Raising the interest rates while hopefully tampering down the rising cost of goods will also affect credit cards, mortgages, investments, and savings. The stock market can also be shaken by hiking interest rates, as well.
The policy statement is set to be published at 2 p.m. EDT, followed by Powell’s speech at 2:30 p.m. EDT on Wednesday.
