Hopes had been high among investors for additional rate cuts this year, which would lower the cost of borrowing money and tend to fuel the stock market.
However, a string of surprisingly strong jobs reports along with some elevated price readings earlier in the year dampened those hopes.
The economy added 272,000 jobs in May, blowing past expectations of around 190,000, while the unemployment rate inched upward to 4 percent from 3.9 percent.
The Fed’s expected annual inflation rate for 2024 rose to 2.6 percent from 2.4 percent as core inflation — which removes the less volatile categories of energy and food — was also adjusted upwards from 2.6 percent to 2.8 percent as measured by the Commerce Department’s personal consumption expenditures price index.
The Fed expects annual inflation to drop to 2.3 percent next year and to 2 percent in 2026.
The forecast for the unemployment rate remained unchanged from March at 4 percent, which is where it stands after a slight uptick in May.
Expectations for growth in gross domestic product growth also held steady at 2.1 percent for the year.
The Hill’s Tobias Burns has more here.
