Federal Reserve Raises Interest Rates by a Quarter of a Percentage Point

A year ago, when the Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time in three years to combat inflation, it said that the banking industry should expect “ongoing increases,” and by September, the Fed projected that it wouldn’t stop heightening rates until they topped 4.5%—from near zero in early 2022. The Fed did what was largely predicted March 22, when it announced it would raise interest rates by 25 basis points, pushing them to the range of 4.75% to 5%.