The kept interest rates at the target range of 4.25% to 4.5% at the conclusion of its May meeting. The policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee noted that "the risks of higher unemployment and higher inflation have risen."

The central bank is walking a fine line: It's facing uncertainty around President Donald Trump's tariffs and economy that shows some signs of resilience – take – as well as weakness – like the latest .

Fed Chair Jerome Powell knocked down any notion of taking preemptive rate cuts as inflation is still running above target. "It's not a situation where we can be preemptive, because we actually don't know what the right responses to the data will be until we see more data," Powell said.

The Fed has been on hold since its last cut in December as it waits to evaluate the tariff impact.

Powell says U.S. trade talks could ‘change the picture materially’

Powell said U.S. negotiations with key trade partners could have a material impact on the economic outlook, after Trump imposed higher than expected tariffs that surprised even the Fed.

"It seems to be we're entering a new phase where the administration is beginning talks with a number of our important trading partners and that has the potential to change the picture materially — or not," Powell said. "It's going to be very important how that shakes out."

Powell said the tariffs Trump implemented on April 2nd were "substantially larger than anticipated in the forecasts that I had see and in our forecasts."

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer are scheduled to meet with Chinese counterparts in Switzerland this weekend. The two largest economies in the world have slapped tariffs on each other that effectively amount to an embargo, Bessent said .

— Spencer Kimball

Powell says he has not asked to meet with Trump or other U.S. presidents

Despite a bevy of criticisms launched from the White House to Powell, the Fed chief said he has not asked to meet with Donald Trump or any other U.S. president.

"I've never asked for a meeting with any president, and I never will," Powell said. "I wouldn't do that. There's never a reason for me to ask for a meeting. It's always been the other way."

"I don't think it's up to a Fed chair to seek a meeting with the president," he added.

— Alex Harring

Lawmakers ‘don’t need my advice' on how to handle fiscal policy, Powell says

While Fed Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged the U.S. federal debt level "is on an unsustainable path," he refrained from offering any advice for Congress on the budget. 

"I think they don't need my advice and our advice on how to do fiscal policy, any more than we need their advice," Powell said during a press conference on Wednesday. "It's on Congress to figure out how to get us back on a sustainable path."

— Hakyung Kim

President Trump's call to lower rates has no effect on Fed, says Powell

President Donald Trump's call for the Federal Reserve to has no effect "at all" on the Federal Open Market Committee's job or the way they do it, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said.

"We are always going to do the same thing, which is we are going to use our tools to foster maximum employment and price stability for the benefit of the American people," he said. "We are always going to consider only the economic data, the outlook, the balance of risks and that's it. That's all we are going to consider."

— Michelle Fox

Powell says Fed is in a 'good position to wait and see'

Powell said he believes the Fed is in a "good position" to see how all the uncertainty surrounding the Trump administration's tariffs plays out.

"There's just so much that we don't know, I think, and we're in a good position to wait and see, is the thing. We don't have to be in a hurry. The economy has been resilient. It's doing fairly well. Our policy is well positioned. The costs of waiting to see further are fairly low," Powell said. "I can't tell you how long it will take, but for now, it does seem like it's a fairly clear decision for us to wait and see and watch."

— Sean Conlon

Tariffs staying at their current levels could delay Fed from achieving its goals for at least the next year, Powell says

Powell said that if Trump's tariffs ultimately stay at their current levels, this could delay the U.S. central bank from achieving its mandated goals.

"What looks likely — given the scope and scale of the tariffs — is that we will see certainly the risks to higher inflation, higher unemployment have increased. And if that's what we do see — if the tariffs are ultimately put in place at those levels, which we don't know — then we won't see further progress toward our goals," he said. "We might see a delay in that."

Powell specified that this could delay the Fed's timeline for the next year or so.

"In our thinking, we would never do anything but keep achieving those goals. But we would at least for the next, let's say year, we would not be making progress toward those goals — again, if that's the way the tariffs shake out," he added. "The thing is, we don't know that. There's so much uncertainty about the scale, scope, timing and persistence of the tariffs."

A delay in the Fed achieving its goals could mean that the U.S. central bank might hold rates at higher levels for longer than it had previously anticipated.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Powell knocks down idea of 'preemptive' rate cuts

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said central bank is not looking to cut rates preemptively due to the fact that inflation is still running above target, with forecasts for another potential rise in inflation in the near term.

"It's not a situation where we can be preemptive, because we actually don't know what the right responses to the data will be until we see more data," Powell said.

— Jesse Pound

'Too early to know' whether employment or inflation should take priority, Powell says

Powell said it's "too early" to know which side of the Federal Reserve's dual mandate of high employment and stable prices is more important.

"It's too early to know that," he said.

Powell added that the policy rate is in a good spot while the central bank awaits clarity on what President Donald Trump's tariff policy looks like. He called the Fed's current monetary policy is only "moderately restrictive" and said that the central bank will continue to monitor economic data.

This "leaves us in a good place to wait and see," Powell said of current borrowing levels amid uncertainty around tariffs. "We don't think we need to be in a hurry. We think we can be patient."

— Alex Harring

Powell warns about impact of tariffs on unemployment, inflation

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that the current announced levels of tariffs could lead to a slowdown in economic growth and a potential rise in long-term inflation.

"If the large increases in tariffs that have been announced are sustained, they are likely to generate a rise in inflation, a slowdown in economic growth, and an increase in unemployment. The effects on inflation could be short-lived, reflecting a one-time shift in the price level. It is also possible that the inflationary effects could instead be more persistent," Powell said.

— Jesse Pound

Powell sees Fed 'well-positioned' on policy

Fed Chair Jerome Powell sees the Fed policy as appropriate despite the rising threat from President Donald Trump's tariffs.

"The risks of higher unemployment and higher inflation appear to have risen, and we believe that the current stance of monetary policy leaves us well positioned to respond in a timely way to potential economic development," the central bank leader said during his post-meeting news conference.

—Jeff Cox

What the Fed's decision means for credit cards, auto loans, mortgages and more

The Federal Reserve's key benchmark rate sets what banks charge each other for overnight lending, but also has a domino effect on almost all of the  Americans see every day.  

With a rate cut likely postponed until July, the average credit card annual percentage rate has stayed just over 20% — not far from last year′s all-time high. Auto loan rates are also persistently high, with the average rate on a five-year new car loan over 7%.

And since mortgage rates don't directly track the Fed, but are largely tied to Treasury yields and the economy, those rates are down slightly.

On the upside, the Fed's pause leaves yields for CDs and high-yield savings accounts well above the annual rate of inflation.

— Jessica Dickler

Fed statement sending a 'shot across the bow' to Trump administration, says JPMorgan's David Kelly

The Federal Reserve's statement "sending a shot across the bow to the administration, saying essentially if you read between the lines, 'Your policies are leading to higher inflation, higher unemployment," David Kelly, chief global strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management, said in an interview with C온라인카지노사이트's "."

"It says, 'We are not going to be in any hurry to cut rates because honestly there are risks to both sides of our mandate here and we are not sure which way we should be playing this,'" he added.

— Michelle Fox

Odds skewed toward another 'hold' at next Fed meeting, says Goldman Sachs Asset Management

The recent better-than-feared supports the Federal Reserve's decision to hold rates steady — and the central bank will likely continue to stay in a holding pattern at its next meeting, said Ashish Shah, chief investment officer of public investing at Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

"The onus is on the labor market to weaken sufficiently to bring a resumption of its easing cycle," Shah said. "Any weakening in the labor market, however, could take a number of months to become apparent and we see the odds skewed towards another 'hold' at next month's meeting."

— Michelle Fox

See what changed in the Fed statement

In this meeting's Fed statement, the committee notably added that it "judges that the risks of higher unemployment and higher inflation have risen." for a comparison of the March and May statements.

— Alex Harring

Stocks take a leg lower after Fed commentary calls out rising inflation risk

Stocks turned lower after the Federal Reserve issued its post-decision statement.

"The Committee is attentive to the risks to both sides of its dual mandate and judges that the risks of higher unemployment and higher inflation have risen," the post-meeting statement reads.

The S&P 500 was down 0.4% on the day, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.9%. The Dow Industrials was well off its highs, up just 45 points, or 0.1%.

–Darla Mercado

Federal Reserve holds steady on rates once more, as expected

Central bank policymakers kept a steady hand on interest rates, maintaining them at the target range of 4.25% to 4.5%.

This time, the Federal Open Market Committee noted that it is "attentive to the risks to both sides of its dual mandate and judges that the risks of higher unemployment and higher inflation have risen."

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–Darla Mercado

Where markets stand before the Fed's announcement

The three major averages were in positive territory – albeit with the Dow Industrials and S&P 500 getting a boost from Disney – just before 1:30 p.m. ET.

The was up 0.46%, while the surged 0.93%. The was just above the flatline.

The traded at 4.287%, down about 3 basis points, while the rate on the inched up by 1 basis point to 3.8%.

–Darla Mercado

Where key consumer rates stand before the Fed’s rate announcement

As the Federal Reserve prepares to announce its policy decision, consumer rates that are closely tied to the 10-year Treasury yield remain high.

The benchmark note yield is trading just below 4.3% as of midday Wednesday, up from the roughly 2% level where it traded during the week of March 11, 2022 – just before the Fed raised rates for the first time in this latest cycle.

Rates on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage were around 6.9% as of the week of May 2, up from 4.29% in March 2022, according to data from MND. Credit card rates also remain high, hovering at 20.12% as of last week, compared to 16.34% in March 2022, per Bankrate data.

For consumers who are saving, the five-year annual percentage yield was at 1.69% last week, according to data from Haver. That's up from the 0.5% APY institutions were paying on these CDs in March 2022, but down notably from the 2.87% they offered last September.

–Nick Wells, Darla Mercado

The Federal Reserve will walk a tightrope as May meeting winds down

Central bank policymakers are widely expected to keep interest rates at their current range of 4.25% to 4.5% at the conclusion of their May meeting. Fed funds futures call for a nearly 98% likelihood that the Federal Reserve will stand pat on rate policy.

This meeting is notable because it comes a little more than a month after President Donald Trump rolled out a raft of tariffs, a move that jolted stocks and bonds in April.

Plenty of uncertainty lingers over how these levies will shape up, but Fed Chair Jerome Powell said last month that the duties could put the between reining in inflation and lifting economic growth.

Because of this shakiness, traders will be listening closely to Powell's press conference at 2:30 p.m., seeking clues on what could be next for rates.

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–Darla Mercado