Fed notes improving economy, a step toward easing support

The Fed’s latest policy statement comes as the economy is sustaining a strong recovery from the pandemic recession

The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that the US economy is strengthening and making progress on the Fed’s employment and inflation goals, a small step toward dialing back its ultra-low-interest rate policies. The statement the Fed issued after its latest policy meeting said that ongoing vaccinations were helping the economy. But it dropped a sentence it had included after its previous meeting that said those vaccinations have reduced the spread of COVID-19. That was the only reference to the delta variant that has caused a spike in COVID cases in several hotspots in the United States and many other countries.