The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate today by a quarter-point in response to the steady decline in inflation, according to the Associated Press.
The rate cut follows a larger half-point reduction in September, and it reflects the Fed’s renewed focus on supporting the job market as well as fighting inflation, which now barely exceeds the central bank’s 2% target.
Today’s move reduces the Fed’s benchmark rate to about 4.6%, down from a four-decade high of 5.3% before September’s meeting. The Fed had kept its rate that high for more than a year to fight the worst inflation streak in four decades. Annual inflation has since fallen from a 9.1% peak in mid-2022 to a three-and-a-half-year low of 2.4% in September.
