© 2024
NPR for Northern Colorado
Donate
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

With Economy 'Expanding Moderately,' Fed Leaves Interest Rates Unchanged

By Mark Memmott
Published March 13, 2012 at 12:30 PM MDT

Citing an economy that is "expanding moderately," an improving labor market and subdued inflation — but a housing sector that "remains depressed" — the Federal Reserve just announced it is holding to its current policy on short-term interest rates.

The central bank's policymakers also said they expect "moderate economic growth over coming quarters" and that the jobless rate will continue to "decline gradually."

The decision on rates was widely anticipated. It means that the Fed's "target range" for the federal funds rate, which in turn influences all sorts of short-term rates, remains "0 to 1/4 percent."

In New York, stocks have been higher all day and remain so after the Fed announcement. The Dow Jones industrial average is up about 110 points (0.85 percent), to around 13,070.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Tags
NPR News EconomyFederal Reserve
Mark Memmott
Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.
See stories by Mark Memmott
Related Content
  • NPR News
    Retail Sales Posted Solid Gain In February
    Mark Memmott
    They were up 1.1 percent from January. Higher gas prices were one reason, but excluding gasoline sales were still up 0.8 percent.
  • An Illinois farmer checks the blades on his combine while harvesting corn last October. The value of the 2011 U.S. corn crop was more than $76 billion.
    NPR News
    Record-High Food Prices Boost Farmers' Bottom Lines
    Frank Morris
    Thanks to high commodity prices and surging productivity, U.S. farmers earned a net income of nearly $98 billion last year — a record, according to analysts. Economists say two major factors have been driving up demand: exports and ethanol.
  • The Federal Reserve shrugged off warnings and let banks pay shareholders billions of dollars in dividends, ProPublica investigative reporter Jesse Eisinger says.
    NPR News
    Did The Fed Help Banks While Ignoring The Risks?
    The Federal Reserve shrugged off warnings and let banks pay shareholders billions of dollars in dividends last year, despite warnings from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. ProPublica investigative reporter Jesse Eisinger says banks should have been forced to set aside the money as a rainy-day cushion.
  • The Federal Reserve plans to keep short-term interest rates near zero until 2014, and some critics are concerned about the risk of inflation and the message it sends about the economy.
    NPR News
    Record Low Interest Rates Raise Inflation Concerns
    Annie Baxter
    The Federal Reserve plans to keep short-term interest rates near zero until 2014, about 18 months longer than planned. Rates have already been low for several years, and there's much debate about the benefits and costs of the Fed's policies — including the message it sends that the economy's recovery is slower than expected.
Load More