Fed Expected To Leave Rates Alone

With Americans enjoying the best economic conditions in three decades, Federal Reserve officials are expected to pass up the chance to raise interest rates this week. But a roller-coaster stock market and other economic storm clouds might force them off the sidelines before long.

Central bank policy-makers meet behind closed doors today to survey economic conditions and decide whether to change interest rate policies.

The Fed tapped the brakes slightly in March, raising a key rate by a quarter-point, but policymakers left rates unchanged at subsequent meetings in May and July.

While a sizzling economy has pushed the unemployment rate down to a 24-year low of 4.8 percent, the tight job market has not triggered inflationary pressures. Prices at the wholesale level have fallen for an unprecedented seven straight months and consumer prices are rising at an annual rate of just 1.5 percent, less than half last year’s gain.