The daily business briefing: March 16, 2017

The Fed raises interest rates,the U.S. indicts Russian spies and hackers for the Yahoo breach, and more

Charges against Yahoo for hacking.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

1. Fed raises interest rates

The Federal Reserve announced Wednesday that it was raising its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point for the second time in three months. Fed policy makers had telegraphed the move, which lifts the rate to a range of 0.75 percent to 1 percent, by saying before the two-day meeting that improving employment and inflation data showed that the economy was strong enough to justify raising rates. Some economists had expected the Fed to pick up the pace of its rate hikes, but the central bank's leaders stuck with their forecast of two more increases this year and three in 2018. "The simple message is the economy is doing well," Fed Chair Janet Yellen said.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.