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Welcome to the Eric Erickson Show podcast, Our Three.

Breaking news. Welcome. It's Eric Erickson here. Breaking news.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday has agreed to hold interest rates steady. No increase, no increase despite inflation being above the central bank's target. The Fed's rate setting group unanimously agreed

to keep the federal funds rate and the target range between 2.5.25% and 5.5%. It's been there since July. This is the second consecutive meeting.

There are the Open Markets Committee chose to hold instead of increasing the interest rate after 11

straight hikes for in 2023. The decision included an upgrade to the committee's general assessment of the economy.

The post-meeting statement indicated that economic activity expanded at a strong pace in the third quarter

compared to the September statement that said the economy had expanded at a solid pace.

The statement noted that employment gains have

moderated since earlier in the year but remained strong. Gross domestic product expanded at a

4.9% annualized rate in the quarter, stronger than even elevated expectations. Non-farm payroll

growth totaled $336,000 in September well ahead of the Wall Street Outlook.

There were a few other changes in the statement other than a notation that both financial and credit

conditions had tightened. The addition of financial to the phrase followed a surge in treasury

yields that has caused concern on Wall Street. The statement

continued to note the committee is still determining the extent of

additional policy firming that it may need to achieve its goals. So to recap,

...