On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve decided to raise short-term interest rates by 0.75 percentage points, making it the third super-hike after ones in June and July. The increase is once again intended to combat the high level of inflation being experienced by the U.S. and much of the world. The higher rate aims to slow the market, but will likely put pressure on many households and businesses, The Washington Post reports.
This is the fifth interest rate hike this year; however, it has done little to combat rapidly increasing prices due to inflation. The current annual inflation rate is about 8.3 percent, reflecting a stark increase in the price of groceries and utilities, especially electricity, reports NPR. Price increases have also been seen in goods and services not directly affected by the pandemic or the war in Ukraine, which could be a sign that inflation is a longer-term problem.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
6 charming homes for the whimsicalFeature Featuring a 1924 factory-turned-loft in San Francisco and a home with custom murals in Yucca Valley
-
Big tech's big pivotOpinion How Silicon Valley's corporate titans learned to love Trump
-
Stacy Horn's 6 favorite works that explore the spectrum of evilFeature The author recommends works by Kazuo Ishiguro, Anthony Doerr, and more
-
Getty Images and Shutterstock merge into a picture powerhouse to combat AIThe Explainer The $3.7 billion deal is one of the largest in the industry's history
-
Is inflation about to surge again?Talking Points The Federal Reserve is cautious about Trump's policies
-
US port strike averted with tentative labor dealSpeed Read The strike could have shut down major ports from Texas to Maine
-
What went wrong at Nissan?In the Spotlight And will a merger with Honda make the difference?
-
Biden expected to block Japanese bid for US SteelSpeed Read The president is blocking the $14 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel by Japan's Nippon Steel, citing national security concerns
-
Nordstrom family, investor to take retail chain privateSpeed Read The business will be acquired by members of the family and El Puerto de Liverpool, a Mexican real estate company
-
Judges block $25B Kroger-Albertsons mergerSpeed Read The proposed merger between the supermarket giants was stalled when judges overseeing two separate cases blocked the deal
-
Rupert Murdoch loses 'Succession' court battleSpeed Read Murdoch wanted to give full control of his empire to son Lachlan, ensuring Fox News' right-wing editorial slant
