Federal Reserve officials announced Wednesday that they will raise interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, for a federal-funds rate between 0.5 percent and 0.75 percent. The move is only the second rate increase mandated by the bank since June 2006.
The Fed previously raised the interest rate 0.25 percent last December, and on Wednesday "indicated they see a brightening economic outlook and expect to raise short-term rates next year by another 0.75 percentage point — likely in three quarter-point moves," The Wall Street Journal writes. The Fed has a target of 2 percent, making a range of 0.5 to 0.75 still relatively low, although not as low as the near-zero rate in the years following the 2008 financial crisis.
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