Funds Rate Target

The Committee maintained its forward guidance regarding the federal funds rate target and reaffirmed its view that a highly accommodative stance of monetary policy remains appropriate.

Today’s policy actions reflect the Committee’s assessment that the economy is continuing to make progress toward our objectives of maximum employment and price stability. In the labor market, conditions have improved further. The unemployment rate, at 6.3 percent, is four-tenths lower than at the time of our March meeting, and the broader U-6 measure—which includes marginally attached workers and those working part time but preferring full-time work—has fallen by a similar amount. Even given these declines, however, unemployment remains elevated, and a broader assessment of indicators suggests that underutilization in the labor market remains significant.

Although real GDP declined in the first quarter, this decline appears to have resulted mainly from transitory factors. Private domestic final demand—that is, spending by domestic households and businesses—continued to expand in the first quarter, and the limited set of indicators of spending and production in the second quarter have picked up. The Committee thus believes that economic activity is rebounding in the current quarter and will continue to expand at a moderate pace thereafter. Overall, the Committee continues to see sufficient underlying strength in the economy to support ongoing improvement in the labor market.

Inflation has continued to run below the Committee’s 2 percent objective, and the Committee remains mindful that inflation running persistently below its objective could pose risks to economic performance. Given that longer-term inflation expectations appear to be well anchored, and in light of the ongoing recovery in the United States and in many economies around the world, the Committee continues to expect inflation to move gradually back toward its objective. The Committee will continue to assess incoming data carefully to ensure that policy is consistent with attaining the FOMC’s longer-run objectives of maximum employment and inflation of 2 percent.