'This looks like a meeting where the Committee was split, everybody got something, and nobody got everything. Powell said that even as officials have not decided what they will do with rates, the July 25-26 gathering is a 'live meeting' which could bring another increase. 'Holding the target (interest rate) range steady at this meeting allows the committee to assess additional information and its implications for monetary policy' before taking another step, the central bank's rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) said in a unanimous policy statement at the end of its two-day meeting. The new projections showed the unemployment rate rising by the end of 2023 to 4.1% from the current 3.7%, but that is a significantly smaller increase than the 4.6% jobless rate officials projected in March. Though Powell repeated the Fed's standard warning about 'upside' risks to inflation, the decision to hold steady at this time was also an effort to try to ease the pace of price increases 'with the minimum damage' to the job market.
REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque Acquire Licensing Rights 'LIVE MEETING' Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell arrives to hold a news conference after the release of the Fed policy decision to keep interest rates unchanged, at the Federal Reserve, June 14, 2023.