Welcome to the Eric Erickson Show podcast.

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, the breaking news, the Federal Reserve has decided not to raise interest rates.

A lot of people expected they might, but they say although inflation is still above the Fed target

...