The Federal Reserve is raising its key interest rate another three-quarters of a percentage point as it battles the hottest inflation in decades.
The move by the central bank’s rate-setting committee, announced Wednesday after a two-day meeting, marks the sixth rate hike this year and the fourth consecutive 0.75 percentage point jump since June. The jumbo increase was widely expected by Wall Street given that inflation has remained stubbornly high despite the Fed’s aggressive campaign to curb sharply higher prices.
The rate increase changes how much banks pay to borrow money from the Fed, which in turn affects how much it costs consumers and businesses to borrow and feeds into rates for mortgages, credit-card debt and car loans. The rate hikes to date have brought the average mortgage rate above 7%, its highest level in 20 years.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell is set to address reporters at 2:30 p.m. Eastern time, when he is expected to detail the bank’s economic outlook.
This is a developing story.
