On March 20, the Federal Open Market Committee, the monetary policy setting body of the Federal Reserve, issued a statement expressing its views on the economy and monetary policy. The statement explains that information since the FOMC last met in January 2013 indicates that the U.S. economy is returning to moderate economic growth after a pause at the end of 2012. The Federal Reserve policymakers stated that the central bank plans to keep its current monetary policies in place – thus maintaining downward pressure on longer-term interest rates – until the national unemployment rate reaches 6.5 percent or until inflation is on track to exceed 2.5 percent.

The economic projections released by the central bank last week forecast real gross domestic product (GDP) growth between 2.3 and 2.8 percent in 2013 and between 2.9 and 3.4 percent in 2014. The unemployment rate is forecast to remain between 7.3 and 7.5 percent in 2013 and to decline to somewhere between 6.7 and 7.0 percent in 2014.

Link(s): FOMC Statement; Economic Projections