The Federal Reserve left interest rates alone on Wednesday, six days before the midterm elections, even as inflation edges back toward the three-year high it hit in May.
The Federal Open Market Committee voted 10-2 to keep its benchmark rate in a range of 3.75% to 4%. Only Fed Governor Lisa Cook and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack dissented. In a statement from the Fed, the two “preferred to raise the target range for the federal funds rate by 1/4 percentage point at this meeting.”
While Hammack’s vote was expected, Cook’s was not, since previews had named Hammack, Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan, and Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari as the likeliest dissenters.
The statement added a new line: “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 replaced September’s line saying that month’s hike would “support a timelier return to the Committee’s 2 percent goal.” The Fed closed with the same line as last month: “The Committee will deliver price stability.”
September’s Fed hike was the first increase since 2023. Subsequently, it was Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s first hike since President Donald Trump bestowed upon him the position.
For today’s decision, the Fed gave a brighter read on growth, saying “economic activity is expanding at a strong pace,” whereas it called the pace “solid” in September.
Meanwhile, prices have kept climbing since September. Consumer prices rose 3.7% from a year earlier in September, pushed up by gasoline. Core inflation, which strips out food and energy, rose 2.6% and beat forecasts.
Warsh has made a point of not signaling the Fed’s next move.
“I don’t prejudge meetings,” he said this month.