美联储周三决定维持基准利率不变，从而延长了积极对抗通胀的时间，尽管几小时前的新数据显示价格上涨略有降温。
美国劳工统计局(U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)的数据显示，上个月价格上涨有所放缓，但自去年年底以来，通货膨胀的进展一直有限。反过来，央行周三表示，预计通胀率将在比此前预期更长的时间内保持较高水平。
美联储放弃了此前对今年三次降息的预测，而是表示预计在2024年降息一次。
美联储利率决策机构联邦公开市场委员会(Federal Open Market Committee)表示:“在对通胀率正在可持续地向2%迈进有更大信心之前，委员会预计下调目标区间是不合适的。”说在一份声明中。
周三在华盛顿特区举行的新闻发布会上，美联储主席杰罗姆·鲍威尔对最新的通胀数据表示赞赏，但表示央行在降息前需要看到进一步的进展。
鲍威尔说:“我们欢迎今天的阅读，并希望有更多这样的阅读。“我们需要看到更多的好数据来增强我们的信心，让我们相信通胀率正在可持续地降至2%。”
在近一年的连续七次会议上，美联储选择保持利率稳定，以应对通胀上升和强劲的经济表现。
从理论上讲，长时间的高利率应该会抑制经济活动，减少消费者需求并降低价格。相反，富有弹性的经济和顽固的通胀在很大程度上与美联储的努力背道而驰。
通货膨胀率已从9.1%的峰值大幅下降，但价格涨幅近几个月几乎没有变化，仍保持在1个百分点以上高等级的，级别较高的，较重要的低于美联储2%的目标利率。
美联储几乎放弃了此前的一项预报年底前的三次降息。
一些观察人士预计，美联储将在2024年剩余时间内放弃降息。
投资巨头先锋集团(Vanguard)首席经济学家罗杰·阿利亚加-迪亚兹(Roger Aliaga-Diaz)在利率宣布前向美国广播公司新闻频道(ABC News)发表的一份声明中表示，他认为美联储至少在未来六个月内将维持当前利率水平。
阿丽亚加-迪亚兹补充说，这一预测归因于“抗击通胀的进展不足以及持续的增长和劳动力势头。”
德意志银行在给客户的一份报告中回应了对短期内降息的怀疑。“美联储官员已经明确表示，他们在降息的时间和幅度方面处于观望模式，”该报告称。
美联储面临通胀反弹的风险，如果它削减加息太快，因为强劲的经济活动带来的更强劲的消费需求可能会导致价格加速上涨。
然而，长时间的高利率可能会给经济增长带来下行压力，并使美国陷入衰退。
周五发布的就业报告吹过去了经济学家的预期，显示了经济的韧性。5月份的重磅招聘超过了去年平均每月增加的就业岗位数量美国劳工统计局说道。
报告发现，截至5月底的一年中，平均时薪飙升了4.1%。这一工资增长速度超过了通货膨胀的速度，表明即使价格上涨，工人的消费能力也在增长。
这一数据对工人来说是一个福音，但可能会让政策制定者踌躇不前，因为他们担心工资上涨可能会促使企业提高价格，以弥补增加的劳动力成本。
经济产出减速这在2024年初非常明显，尽管它继续以稳健的速度增长。
尽管美联储拒绝降息，但消费者面临着从抵押贷款到信用卡等各种贷款的高借贷成本。
数据显示，30年期固定抵押贷款的平均利率为6.99%弗雷迪·马c上周发布的数据。
房地美数据显示，当美联储在2022年3月首次加息时，30年期固定抵押贷款平均利率仅为3.85%。
Fed holds interest rates steady at 23-year high
The Federal Reserve decided to hold its benchmark interest rate steady on Wednesday, prolonging an aggressive fight against inflation despite fresh data hours earlier that showed a slight cooldown of price increases.
Price increases eased last month, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed, but progress on inflation has remained modest since late last year. In turn, the central bank said on Wednesday that it expects inflation to remain higher for longer than previously anticipated.
The Fed retreated from its previous forecast of three rate cuts this year, instead saying that it anticipates one rate cut in 2024.
"The Committee does not expect it will be appropriate to reduce the target range until it has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2 percent," The Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed's decision-making body on interest rates,saidin a statement.
At a press conference in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell applauded the latest inflation data but said the central bank will need to see further progress before it reduces interest rates.
"We welcome today’s reading and hope for more like that," Powell said. "We’ll need to see more good data to bolster our confidence that inflation is moving sustainably down to 2%."
At seven consecutive meetings spanning nearly a year, the Fed has opted to hold rates steady in response to elevated inflation and robust economic performance.
In theory, the prolonged stretch of high interest rates should weigh on economic activity, reduce consumer demand and cut prices. Instead, a resilient economy and stubborn inflation have largely defied the Fed's efforts.
Inflation has fallen significantly from a peak of 9.1%, but price increases have barely budged in recent months and remain more than a percentage pointhigherthan the Fed's target rate of 2%.
The Fed has all but abandoned a previousforecastof three interest rate cuts by the end of the year.
Some observers expect the Fed to forgo interest rate cuts for the remainder of 2024.
Roger Aliaga-Diaz, chief economist at the investment giant Vanguard, said in a statement to ABC News before the rate announcement that he believed the Fed would keep interest rates at current levels for at least the next six months.
The forecast, Aliaga-Diaz added, owes to "inadequate progress in the inflation fight and continued growth and labor momentum."
In a note to clients, Deutsche Bank echoed skepticism about rate cuts anytime soon. "Fed officials have clearly signaled that they are in a wait-and-see mode with respect to the timing and magnitude of rate cuts," the note said.
The Fed risks a rebound of inflation if itcutsinterest rates too quickly, since stronger consumer demand on top of solid economic activity could lead to an acceleration of price increases.
A prolonged period of high interest rates, however, threatens to place downward pressure on economic growth and plunge the U.S. into a recession.
A jobs report released on Fridayblew pasteconomist expectations, demonstrating the resilient strength of the economy. Blockbuster hiring in May exceeded the average number of jobs added each month over the previous year, theU.S. Bureau of Labor Statisticssaid.
Average hourly wages surged 4.1% over the year ending in May, the report found. That rate of pay increase exceeds the pace of inflation, indicating that the spending power of workers has grown even as prices jump.
The data marks a boon for workers but could give pause to policymakers, since they fear that a rise in pay could prompt businesses to raise prices in order to cover the added labor cost.
Economic outputslowedmarkedly at the outset of 2024, though it continued to grow at a solid pace.
While the Fed has resisted lowering interest rates, consumers have faced high borrowing costs for everything from mortgages to credit cards.
The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage stands at 6.99%, according toFreddie Mac data released last week.
When the Fed imposed its first rate hike of the current series in March 2022, the average 30-year fixed mortgage stood at just 3.85%, Freddie Mac data showed.
