Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in December indicates that the labor market has continued to strengthen and that economic activity has been rising at a solid rate. Job gains have been strong, on average, in recent months, and the unemployment rate has remained low. Household spending has continued to grow strongly, while growth of business fixed investment has moderated from its rapid pace earlier last year. On a 12-month basis, both overall inflation and inflation for items other than food and energy remain near 2 percent. Although market-based measures of inflation compensation have ... (full story)

The Federal Reserve opted not to raise interest rates during its policy meeting this week and pledged that future moves will be done patiently and with an eye toward how economic conditions unfold. In a statement Wednesday, the central bank voted unanimously to hold its policy rate in a range between 2.25 percent and 2.5 percent. The decision came along with a statement on the Fed's balance sheet indicating that policymakers will consider adjusting the reduction of the central bank's bond portfolio if conditions warrant. Officials in that statement also said they expect to operate with "an ample supply" of bank ... (full story)

This is a comparison of Wednesday's FOMC statement with the one issued after the Fed's previous policymaking meeting on December 13. Text removed from the December statement is in red with a horizontal line through the middle. Text appearing for the first time in the new statement is in red and underlined. Black text appears in both statements. (full story)