The Federal Reserve approved a half-point interest rate hike on Wednesday, a smaller increase than in recent months and an acknowledgment that inflation is finally easing.
The increase marks a shift for the central bank after an unprecedented year that includes seven-straight rate hikes as part of an aggressive campaign to try and bring down the highest inflation since the early 1980s.
While lower than the four consecutive three-quarter-point hikes approved at the Fed’s previous meetings, Wednesday’s rate hike is still twice the size of the central bank’s customary quarter-point increase and will likely deepen the economic pain for millions of American businesses and households by pushing up the cost of borrowing even further.
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