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FED LEAVES RATES UNCHANGED
| The Federal Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve yesterday kept its target for the federal funds rate at 1 percent. "The Committee continues to believe that an accommodative stance of monetary policy, coupled with still-robust underlying growth in productivity, is providing important ongoing support to economic activity," the Fed said in a prepared statement. "The evidence accumulated over the intermeeting period shows that spending is firming, although labor market indicators are mixed. Business pricing power and increases in core consumer prices remain muted. "The Committee perceives that the upside and downside risks to the attainment of sustainable growth for the next few quarters are roughly equal. In contrast, the probability, though minor, of an unwelcome fall in inflation exceeds that of a rise in inflation from its already low level. The Committee judges that, on balance, the risk of inflation becoming undesirably low is likely to be the predominant concern for the foreseeable future." The Federal Reserve, which has cut interest rates 13 times since January 2001, indicated that the current interest rate is likely to remain unchanged for "a considerable period." |