U.S. Federal Reserve holds interest rate, saying it will take 'longer than expected' to start cutting

U.S. Federal Reserve holds interest rate, saying it will take 'longer than expected' to start cutting | CBC News LoadedU.S. Federal Reserve holds interest rate, saying it will take 'longer than expected' to start cutting

The Fed's latest policy statement, issued at the end of a two-day meeting, kept key elements of its economic assessment and policy guidance intact, noting that "inflation has eased" over the past year. In discussing interest rates, it outlined the economic conditions needed in order for borrowing costs to be lowered.

"Inflation is still too high," Powell said in a press conference after the meeting. "Further progress in bring it down is not assured and the path forward is uncertain." "Assuming it's going to take at least three months of good inflation performance to potentially turn around, this means the Fed has moved further away from cutting rates any time soon," wrote BMO deputy chief economist Michael Gregory in a note.Bank of Canada won’t speculate about cutting interest ratesThe Bank of Canada is holding its key interest rate at 5 per cent, saying it needs to see sustained slowing of inflation before it will cut the rate. It is not ruling out a June cut.

"We expect a growing gap between policy rates in Canada and the U.S., as weakening growth and inflation numbers prompt the to cut rates before the Fed and at a more aggressive pace after," wrote RBC economists Nathan Janzen and Claire Fan in a note last month.

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Federal Reserve Chair Powell to Monitor Jobless Claims and Nonfarm Payroll DataA look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets by Harry Robertson. The Federal Reserve chair on Wednesday continued to play a familiar tune. "Given the strength of the economy and progress on inflation so far, we have time to let the incoming data guide our decisions on policy," he said in a speech at Stanford University. Thursday brings new numbers on weekly jobless claims for Powell and his colleagues to chew on. Economists think the number will come in at 214,000, up slightly from the week before but in line with the average over the last six months - and hardly commensurate with a faltering labor market.Then Friday brings the big one: March's nonfarm payroll employment data could cause markets to lurch. Analysts polled by Reuters think 200,000 jobs were added in March, a relatively big drop from 275,000 in February. But recent U.S. data has tended to come in hotter than anticipated. Wednesday did deliver a sign of a potential crack in the U.S.
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