The Federal Open Market Committee voted to lower target interest rates by 25 basis points to a range of 3.50% to 3.75%.
Statement: The FOMC said:
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Economic activity has been expanding at a moderate pace.
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Job gains have slowed this year, and the unemployment rate has edged up through September.
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Inflation has moved up since earlier in the year and remains somewhat elevated.
Dissenting Votes: Voting against the action were Stephen Miran, who advocated lowering the target range for the federal funds rate by 50 basis points, and Austan Goolsbee and Jeffrey Schmid, who advocated no change to the target range at this meeting.
Economic Projections: In its latest economic projections, the Fed boosted its GDP forecast, lowered inflation expectations, and predicted unemployment to remain at 4.4% next year.