The Federal Open Market Committee unanimously voted to hold off on raising interest rates in May after announcing a rate hike the previous meeting.
According to the FOMC announcement, “Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in March indicates that the labor market has continued to strengthen even as growth in economic activity slowed.”
“Job gains were solid, on average, in recent months, and the unemployment rate declined. Household spending rose only modestly, but the fundamentals underpinning the continued growth of consumption remained solid,” it continued.
As a result, the committee decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at .75% to 1%.
The FOMC’s decision in its last meeting in march to raise rates marked the second time in three months and the first time in 2017.
While the FOMC didn’t raise rates in this meeting, experts claim that there will be several this year.
Mike Fratantoni, Mortgage Bankers Association chief economist, recently stated in a HousingWire webinar that he expects two more rate hikes this year, one in June and one in September.
There five meeting left for the year, which includes Junes, July, September, October/November ad December.
