Fed Raises Fed Fund Rate 1/4%. Sees Two More Rate Increases in 2017
U.S. central bankers see no major changes in their economic outlook
Full Article - https://www.wsj.com/articles/fed-still-sees-three-2017-rate-increases-1489601028?tesla=y
WASHINGTON—Federal Reserve officials still expect to raise short-term interest rates two more times this year after lifting them Wednesday—and they see no major changes in their economic outlook.
In economic projections released Wednesday following a two-day policy meeting, officials also penciled in three more quarter-percentage-point moves in 2018. They also see interest rates settling at their long-run average of 3% by the end of 2019, slightly sooner than they foresaw in their December projections.
Officials took the first step Wednesday by raising their benchmark federal-funds rate as expected by a quarter-percentage-point to a range between 0.75%and 1 %. ...
They expect an unemployment rate of 4.5% at the end of the next three years. Projections for the longer-run unemployment rate ticked down to 4.7% from 4.8% in December.
Officials see inflation ending the year at 1.9% and rising to the Fed’s 2% target by 2018.
Write to David Harrison at david.harrison@wsj.com