Fed Says Rate Hike Still on Track for This Year

The Federal Reserve signaled a pickup in the economy is keeping it on track to raise interest rates this year, though subsequent increases are likely to be more gradual than anticipated earlier.

“Since the committee last met in April, the pace of job gains has picked up and labor-market gains have improved further,” Fed Chair Janet Yellen said at a press conference in Washington Wednesday after the Federal Open Market Committee voted to keep the main rate at zero, where it has been since late 2008.