Fed meeting

The Federal Reserve is expected to raise its benchmark interest rate by another three-quarters of a percentage point amid fears of a looming recession.

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Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is set to deliver the largest back-to-back rate increase in decades on Wednesday, with investors seeking signs he is ...

The rate rise the Federal Reserve is almost certain to deliver Wednesday will likely draw a formal objection by a veteran policy maker who was once the ...

More rate rises loom as the year progresses.\n\n“More abrupt changes in interest rates could create strains, either in the economy or financial markets, that would undermine the Fed’s ability to deliver on the higher path of rates communicated,” Ms. George said earlier this month.\n\nMs. George’s objection is unlikely to find much favor with the other officials who vote Wednesday. The policy maker is also set to retire at the start of the new year. The rate rise the Federal Reserve is almost certain to deliver Wednesday will likely draw a formal objection by a veteran policy maker who was once the institution’s most steadfast hawk.\n\nFederal Reserve Bank of Kansas City leader Esther George looks set to vote against the 0.75 percentage point rate rise her colleagues on the Federal Open Market Committee seem a lock to deliver, as the Fed continues on its aggressive quest to lower very high levels of inflation.\n\nIf Ms. George dissents, it would mark her second “no” vote this year: She also opposed the three-quarters of a percentage point rate rise in June. Another dissent would be a notable change in disposition relative to other central bankers. The Fed has taken its federal funds target rate range from near zero levels in March to what’s likely between 2.25% and 2.50%, a level last seen at the end of 2018.

The central bank raised rates for the fourth time this year as it attempts to tame prices without causing a severe downturn.

Already, signs abound that the economy is slowing as the Fed begins to push rates higher, with overall growth data, housing market trackers and some metrics of consumer spending showing a pullback. Bringing the economy into balance when supply is constrained — cars are hard to find because of semiconductor shortages, furniture is on back order, and jobs are more plentiful than laborers — could require a big decline in demand. The Federal Reserve is expected to announce its fourth interest rate increase of 2022 on Wednesday as it races to tamp down rapid inflation. Mr. Powell started his news conference last month by saying the central bank has “both the tools we need and the resolve that it will take to restore price stability on behalf of American families and businesses.” But that might take a while. Of particular interest will be any sense of how much economic pain the central bank is willing to accept as it tries to rein in rising costs. With a second weak — and potentially negative — gross domestic product number expected on Thursday, the housing market slowing sharply and consumer confidence tanking, Mr. Powell is sure to be asked about the risks of a U.S. recession. Car loans are also expected to climb, but those increases continue to be overshadowed by the rising cost of buying a vehicle and the price you pay for filling it with gas. The Fed is expected to raise interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point today, and Jerome H. Powell will answer reporter questions at 2:30 p.m. Eastern time. But rapid rate increases could add to the risk of a downturn this year. The Fed has now raised rates to match the peak of its last tightening cycle, in 2018, with an upper limit of 2.5 percent. Consumer prices climbed by 9.1 percent in the year through June, and central bankers are nervous that, after more than a year of rapid cost increases, Americans might begin to expect inflation to last. But it drops a line from the June statement referring to China’s “Covid zero” policy and its impact on supply chains.