Fed Officials Trim Forecasts for 2013, 2014 Jobless Rate

Federal Reserve officials forecast the nation’s unemployment rate will hit the central bank’s threshold for raising interest rates sometime in 2015, while projecting faster improvement in the labor market this year.

U.S. central bankers estimate the jobless rate will average 6.7 percent to 7 percent in the final quarter of 2014 and 6 percent to 6.5 percent in 2015, according to their central tendency estimates. Similarly, 13 of the 19 Federal Open Market Committee participants estimated that the first increase in the federal funds rate from its current range of zero to 0.25 percent will occur in 2015, the same as at the December meeting.