Fed hikes 75 basis points second time, signals third is possible

U.S. Fed officials raised interest rates by 75 basis points for the second straight month and Chair Jerome Powell said a similar move was possible again, while rejecting speculation that the U.S. economy is in recession.

Policy makers, facing the hottest cost pressures in 40 years, lifted the target for the federal funds rate on Wednesday to a range of 2.25 per cent to 2.5 per cent. That takes the cumulative June-July increase to 150 basis points -- the steepest since the price-fighting era of Paul Volcker in the early 1980s.

“While another unusually large increase could be appropriate at our next meeting,” that’s a decision that will depend on the data between now and then, Powell said during a press conference following a two-day policy gathering in Washington. Policy makers next gather Sept. 20-21; the two monthly readings on inflation and employment due before then will help determine the Fed’s next move.

Powell also said the Fed will also slow the pace of increases at some point. In addition, he said officials would set policy on a meeting-by-meeting basis rather than offer explicit guidance on the size of their next rate move, as he has done recently.