The Federal Reserve raised its short-term benchmark rate by a half-percentage point on Wednesday, the sharpest increase since 2000, to a range between 0.75% and 1%. Though widely expected, the move will ripple through the economy and Americans’ financial lives.
Intended to combat the highest inflation in four decades, the higher rates will make it more expensive to buy a home or a car, or carry a credit-card balance. The Fed began increasing rates in March by one quarter of a percentage point after lowering them to near-zero levels during the pandemic. Wednesday’s increase will accelerate the impact on American wallets from gradual to more sudden.
