Fed Raises Interest Rates and Sees 3.6% Unemployment

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday and signaled it will raise rates two more times this year, as Fed Chairman Jerome H. Powell proclaimed the United States economy to be in “great shape” and that “most people who want to find jobs are finding them.”

Mr. Powell, speaking at a news conference after the Fed’s two-day meeting, said the economy has strengthened significantly since the financial crisis and is approaching a “normal” level where monetary policy may no longer be needed to either encourage or discourage economic activity. The Fed now projects unemployment to fall to 3.6 percent in 2018 and indicated it will raise interest rates a total of four times this year.

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