The Federal Reserve met in December to discuss the effects of a series of interest rate hikes the central bank has carried out over the past few months. At the meeting, the interest rate was raised by half a percentage point, pushing the current interest rate range to 4.25% to 4.5%.
The rise in rates is an attempt to tame high inflation. The Fed hikes them to raise the cost of borrowing for businesses and shoppers. The goal is to curb borrowing, cool off an overheated economy and fend off inflation spikes. The trick is to moderate inflation without sending the economy into a recession — what economists call a ‘soft landing.’
In November, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated that while the central bank was likely to slow the pace of interest rate hikes in December — there have been six already this year — rates would continue to be raised above the initially anticipated threshold.
Looking ahead to the new year, this is when the Federal Reserve plans to meet in 2023.
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Federal Reserve 2023 Meeting Schedule
Jan/Feb 31-1
March 21-22
May 2-3
June 13-14
July 25-26
September 19-20
Oct/Nov 31-1
December 12-13
When does the Fed meet again? Here’s what to know and when to expect (another) rate hike.
When is the next Fed meeting?
The next Federal Reserve meeting will be held in the new year from January 31 to February 1.
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How much did the Fed raise interest rates?
At the Fed’s last meeting, which was held from December 13-14, interest rates were bumped up 0.50 percentage points. Slightly smaller in size than the three previous hikes, the policy is meant to wrestle down soaring inflation.
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Is inflation going down from the Fed’s interest rate hikes?
Some evidence suggests that inflation could be on the decline.
U.S. monthly job growth has, for example, fallen from 537,000 in July to 263,000 in September while private-sector wages and salaries grew 5.2% annually between the two months. Those numbers are historically high but still lower than the previous quarter’s 5.7%.
Perhaps the most widely watched inflation gauge is the consumer price index. It showed that overall prices in the month of November were up 7.1% from the previous year, but down from a four-decade high of 9.1% in June.
Economists also indicate, even without big Fed rate increases, that inflation is expected to slow as supply-chain bottlenecks ease, commodity prices fall, a strong dollar lowers import costs and retailers offer discounts to unload swollen inventories.
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How many times has the Fed raised interest rates in 2022?
Interest rates have been hiked seven times this year. Rates had been hovering near zero during the pandemic’s economic standstill, and then were raised by 0.25 percentage point starting in March.
Another increase came in May, this time 0.50 percentage points, followed by a 0.75 percentage point hike in June. Then in July came another 0.75 came, and another of the same size in September.
The latest increase, also 0.75 percentage points, came in November, putting the rate at its current range of 3.75% to 4.00%.
Contributing: Paul Davidson, Elisabeth Buchwald
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fed meeting schedule 2023: A look at this year’s calendar
Source: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/federal-reserves-2023-meeting-schedule-175431478.html