Fed Holds Rates Steady Despite Lack of Progress on Inflation

The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday, despite no recent progress on getting inflation back down to the central bank’s 2 percent target.Officials voted 10 to 2 to keep rates at the previous range of 3.75 percent to 4 percent.That level was reached in September after policymakers decided unanimously to raise borrowing costs for the first time since 2023.Lisa D.

Cook, a Fed governor whom President Trump has tried to fire, issued her first-ever dissent on the Fed’s monetary policy settings, voting in favor of a quarter-point increase.She was joined by Beth M.

Hammack, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, who has dissented a number of times this year.In a statement accompanying the rate decision, the Fed conveyed that it still had more work to do to quell inflation, which it described as “elevated.”“The accumulation of more information will help the committee determine the policy stance appropriate to ensure a timely return of inflation to the committee’s 2 percent goal,” it said.That message aligned with comments from top policymakers in the lead-up to October’s meeting.

Several officials signaled their support for another rate increase later this year, even as they argued that there was no urgency to deliver increases at back-to-back meetings.The central bank gathered just days before midterm elections that will decide whether Republicans will retain control of Congress and, in turn, how much scope Mr.Trump will have to enact his agenda in the second half of his term.

Affordability issues are front and center for voters after nearly six years in which inflation has overshot the Fed’s target.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a ...