Fed Raises Interest Rates

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point to 1.75 to 2 percent on Wednesday and signaled it will raise rates two more times this year.

Officials no longer view the United States economy as primarily needing a boost from monetary policy, and are beginning to worry more about the threat of inflation.

Wednesday’s rate increase was widely expected.

Fed raised its forecast for gross-domestic-product growth this year to 2.8% from 2.7%. In the longer run, they maintained the forecast for 1.8% growth. That's weaker than the White House's forecast for 3% growth in 2021, suggesting the Fed is less optimistic about the boost from tax cuts.

The Fed anticipates that inflation will overshoot its 2% target this year; in March, officials saw that only happening in 2020.