The Federal Reserve’s busiest year for rate hikes since Jimmy Carter was president may be coming to an end — but U.S. central bankers’ rate increases are far from over.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is projected to raise interest rates by half a percentage point when it gathers for its final meeting of the year on Dec. 13-14. That decision will cap the year off with seven straight increases worth a whopping 4.25 percentage points, moves the Fed made in just nine months — a pace unheard of since its last inflation fight in the 1980s.
Consumers are sure to recognize it’s a smaller move than the 0.75-point increase the Fed has stuck with for four straight meetings, but experts say it signals more about the U.S. central bank’s journey than its destination.
