Federal Reserve maintains interest rates for sixth meeting in a row

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday said it would keep its key interest rates at around 5 1/4 to 5 1/2 percent. However, Fed officials are prepared to change them if risks require them to do so, the statement said.

Why is it keeping them in place? The Fed did not have confidence that inflation was headed sustainably down toward its goal of 2 percent, according to the statement. Still, inflation has significantly dropped from its June 2022 high of more than 9 percent. The Consumer Price Index rose about 3.5 percent over a 12-month period ending in March, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report from last month.

Dig deeper: Listen to Nick Eicher and David Bahnsen’s discussion on The World and Everything in It podcast about how the U.S. job market has remained strong.