The Fed just cut interest rates for the third time this year

(Image credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

published 30 October 2019

The Fed struck again, but perhaps for the last time in the near future.

The Federal Reserve announced it cut interest rates Wednesday for the third time this year, dropping the target for the federal funds rate to a range between 1.5 percent and 1.75 percent. The Fed said the slash was justified because of global economic uncertainty, but Chair Jerome Powell did say the potential for a U.S.-China trade deal and the lessening risk of a no-deal Brexit could help raise business confidence.

In its statement, the rate-setting committee said it would now "assess the appropriate path" for rates going forward, while monitoring "the implications of incoming information." The tone was milder than that of their previous policy statement, which said the committee would "act as appropriate" to sustain economic expansion, The Wall Street Journal reports. That likely suggests the Fed is not planning for a further cut this year, according to The Financial Times.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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