No Rate Hike…This Time

Yesterday, June 14th it was announced that the Federal Reserve was going to hold interest rates at their current range of 5% to 5.25%. This was the first time in the last ten meetings that the Federal Reserve did not hike rates. What does it mean for the future? Well going off the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMCs) dot-plot, in which individual members forecast where rates could go, we may see two more rate hikes through the end of the year pushing the target range above 5.6%. For 2024, those projections drop to an average estimate of 4.6%, and for 2025 3.4%. Both projections are higher than previous estimates of 4.3% and 3.1%.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell at a news conference following the decision stated, “We have raised our policy interest rate by five percentage points, and we have continued to reduce our security holdings at a brisk pace. We have covered a lot of ground and the full effects of our tightening have yet to be felt.” The next meeting for the Federal Reserve will occur on July 25th and 26th. 30-year mortgage loan average rate sits around 6.7% Credit Card annual percentages average more than 20%. The average car loan sits above 6.8% for a 5-year loan.

For more information, please reach out to the Professionals at The Center for Financial, Legal, & Tax Planning Inc., at 618-997-3436.