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July 26, 2017US MONETARY POLICY Today, July 26, 2017, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) maintained the target range for the federal funds rate to 1.0 to 1.25 per cent. The Committee is continuing with its existing policy of reinvesting principal payments from agency debt and mortgage-backed securities and anticipates it will begin a balance sheet normalization program relatively soon, provided the economy evolves as expected. It was also noted that economic conditions are expected to evolve in a manner to only warrant gradual increases in the federal fund rate and that the Committee expects federal funds rate to remain below longer-run levels for some time.
Since the previous Federal Open Market Committee meeting in June, the US labour market has continued to strengthen and economic activity has been rising moderately in 2017. Job gains have been solid and the unemployment rate has decline. Household spending and business investment have continued to expand. Inflation has declined recently and measures that exclude food and energy prices continue to be below 2 per cent.
US Federal Reserve