Fed Met Today, but The WSJ Prime Rate Will Stay--At 4.75% That Is

Interest rates have been coming down at a steady pace since early 2001, and some were predicting that The Fed would continue on this rate-lowering path and vote to lower interest rates again this time around. But instead, The Fed voted today to keep their target for the Fed Funds Rate @ 1.75%. This means that the Wall Street Journal Prime Rate will remain at lovely 4.75%. Happy spending to all, and stay tuned to The WSJ Prime Rate Blog for the latest news on interest rates.

Here's a clip from today's press release by The Fed:

"The Federal Open Market Committee decided today to keep its target for the federal funds rate unchanged at 1 3/4 percent.

The information that has become available since the last meeting of the Committee suggests that aggregate demand is growing at a moderate pace.

Over time, the current accommodative stance of monetary policy, coupled with still robust underlying growth in productivity, should be sufficient to foster an improving business climate. However, considerable uncertainty persists about the extent and timing of the expected pickup in production and employment owing in part to the emergence of heightened geopolitical risks.

Consequently, the Committee believes that, for the foreseeable future, against the background of its long-run goals of price stability and sustainable economic growth and of the information currently available, the risks are weighted mainly toward conditions that may generate economic weakness."