The central bank’s decision to pause at its first meeting of 2025 followed a series of cuts that began in September to account for progress already made on getting inflation down. Over the course of three meetings, the Fed lowered rates by a full percentage point to a range of 4.25 percent to 4.5 percent, which was maintained on Wednesday.

The Federal Reserve opted to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged in its first policy meeting since President Trump's inauguration.

Consumers and traders are waiting to learn if the Fed’s pause is a one-meeting hold or the start of a longer stretch.

Fed chair Jerome Powell said he has not talked with Trump since the president demanded last week “interest rates drop immediately.”

That’s the prediction of Bank of America economists who think Canada’s central bank will cut 25 basis points on Jan. 29 and then hold its key rate at 3 per cent. “We expect the forward guidance to signal a pause as the BoC waits to see how both domestic activity and U.S. trade policy play out,” said the economists led by Carlos Capistran.

The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged Wednesday as it began a new wait-and-see policy stance amid a cloudy economic outlook and uncertainty over whether some of President Donald Trump’s policies could stymie the fight against inflation.

The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady at its January meeting following three consecutive rate cuts amid uncertainty over inflation and economic conditions.

The Federal paused rate cuts after its first meeting of the year — here’s what that means for your credit card, mortgage rate, auto loan and savings account.

Consumer Stress Is on the Rise Rising auto repossessions and a growing rate of minimum credit card payments offer signs consumers may be getting stretched. Those figures complicate the notion that the consumer is relatively healthy,

Robert Armstrong Let’s play a game. The game is called the 2025 Financial Times stock picking contest.

The president bashed Jerome Powell on inflation less than two hours after the Fed chair announced interest rates would stay put. As Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan may attest, Trump’s timing is not coincidental.