As inflation continues to ease, the Federal Reserve shrunk its interest rate hike again this Wednesday. The Fed raised rates by 25 basis points (bps) at the first Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting of 2023, down from the previous hike of 50 bps. This shows that while the Fed remains hawkish in its efforts to battle inflation, it is still willing to offer the market some relief this year.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell is assertive that the central bank can get inflation down to 2% “without a really significant downturn, or a really significant increase in unemployment.” He also said, “My base case is that there will be positive growth this year.”
