The Federal Reserve stayed the course on its campaign of rate cuts Thursday, trimming its benchmark interest rate by a quarter-point in a widely expected move.

In a unanimous vote, the Fed's policy committee lowered its benchmark interest by 0.25 percentage points to 4.5% to 4.75%, its lowest level since March 2023.

The Fed cut rates for the second time in as many meetings as a part of an effort to boost the economy and prevent a recent slowdown in the job market from turning into a severe rise in unemployment. Until September, the central bank had held the rate at a two-decade high to subdue inflation, but consumer price increases have 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:slowed nearly to the Fed's goal of a 2% a🦹nnual rate. The Fed is attempting to fulfill its mandate from Congress to keep both inflation and unemployment low▨.

"The Committee judges that the risks to achieving its employment and inflation goals are roughly in balance," the committee said, repeating language from its September statement.

Fed officials left it open-ended how fast they would cut at future meetings, reiterating that their future decisions would be guided by economic data. The Federal Open Market Committee meets again in December, and Fed officials have projected another quarter-point cut at that meeting, though not committed to it.

"We are not on any preset course," Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said at a post-announcement press conference in Washington. "We will continue to make our decisions meeting by meeting as the economy evolves. Monetary policy will adjust in order to best promote our maximum employment and price stability goals."

The Fed is attempting to balance the need to boost the economy against the risk that lower borrowing costs will reignite the high inflation that took hold in late 2021.

A lower Fed funds rate puts downward pressure on borrowing costs for all kinds of loans, including credit cards, auto loans, and mortgages. However, financial markets also play a role in some of those rates, so borrowers haven't necessarily immediately benefited from the Fed's most recent cuts.

The Fed Prepares To Enter The Trump Era, Again

Interest rates for mortgages, which are tied to 10-year Treasury and investor concerns about inflation, have risen due to concerns that President-elect Trump's economic policies could 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:stoke faster price increases for consumer goods.

Powell said the Fed would react to any changes to economic policy from the new administration and incorporate them into their decision-making if and when they were announced rather than making assumptions based on campaign rhetoric.

"We don't guess. We don't speculate. We don't assume," Powell said.

Trump appointed Powell to his chair during his first term in office but often publicly criticized him and urged him to lower interest rates. Powell was appointed to a second term by President Joe Biden and his current four-year term in his post continues through 2026.

When a reporter asked Powell would leave his post if Trump asked him to, he replied with his briefest answer of the press conference: "No."

Update, Nov. 7: This article has been updated to include comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell's press conference.