Federal Reserve raises rates, again

Federal Reserve raises rates, again

The US Federal Reserve continued its trend of interest rate hikes today with another quarter percentage point increase. It was the twelfth consecutive time the Fed has raised the federal funds interest rate. The rate now stands at four percent and language in today’s announcement indicates that there will probably me more to come. The Fed will more than likely announce at least two more rate hikes before chairman Alan Greenspan’s retirement on January 31, 2006. The Fed has expressed concerns that interest rates are too low particularly in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the spike in energy costs that followed. They widely expect economic levels to remain relatively flat until next year when rebuilding efforts increase in earnest.