#FOMCMeeting
Fed Watch: What to Know About This Week’s Policy Meeting
The Federal Reserve kicked off its two-day policy meeting on Tuesday, with a rate decision expected on Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak at 2:30 p.m., providing more context on the central bank’s thinking.
Here’s the current outlook:
The Fed is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged for now.
Officials are watching closely to see how tariffs are affecting the economy.
President Trump has repeatedly pushed for rate cuts, but the Fed appears to be holding its ground.
Rate cuts could begin later this year if trade tensions start dragging down hiring and growth.
What’s the Fed weighing?
Right now, the economy is holding steady despite trade pressures, but that could shift in the months ahead. Economists expect the full impact of tariffs to show up in job and inflation data by summer.
If inflation and unemployment both rise, the Fed could face a tough choice:
Cut rates to help jobs, but risk fueling inflation.
Raise rates to cool inflation, but risk hurting employment.
This scenario—called "stagflation"—is tricky to manage and hasn’t been seen in the U.S. since the 1970s.
What’s Trump saying?
President Trump has been vocal about wanting lower rates and has publicly criticized Powell. Despite the tension, he recently said he has no plans to remove the Fed Chair.
