Members of the Federal Reserve downgraded their economic projections Wednesday, collectively reckoning that U.S. output will grow only 2 percent this year and 2 percent in 2017.
Previously, the group had projected in March that growth in the gross domestic product would reach 2.2 percent for the year, 2.1 percent next year and 2 percent in the longer run.
The Fed did see inflation rising faster toward its 2 percent target then previously thought, hitting 1.4 percent by the end of the year.
Unemployment is estimated to finish 2016 where it is now, at 4.7 percent.
The markdowns in projected growth follow a disappointing jobs report in May, which showed the fewest job gains since the employment recovery began in late 2010, and a weak first-quarter GDP report showing that the economy grew a meager 0.8 percent.
Fed officials have consistently been forced to lower their hopes for economic growth. In December, they gauged that growth would total 2.4 percent in 2016.
The projections, released Wednesday following a two-day meeting of the Fed’s monetary policy committee, represent the median forecast from the individual members of the group.
