MADRID, 13 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the United States Federal Reserve (Fed) has decided to maintain interest rates in the target range of between 5.25% and 5.5%, at highest levels since January 2001, as reported by the central bank in a statement this Wednesday.

In this way, the institution has decided to maintain its monetary policy unchanged for the third consecutive meeting, after the last increase of 25 basis points in the price of money carried out last July.

"The Committee will continue to evaluate additional information and its implications for monetary policy," the central bank has indicated.

To determine the degree of potential tightening that may be appropriate to return inflation to 2%, the Fed "will take into account the cumulative tightening of monetary policy and the lag with which it affects economic activity and inflation, and the development of economic and financial events".

In assessing the appropriate stance of monetary policy, the Committee has assured that it will continue to monitor the implications of incoming data for the macroeconomic picture.

The economy of the world's leading power experienced annualized growth of 5.2% of its GDP in the third quarter of 2023 compared to 2.1% in the previous section, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) .

As for the US labor market, it created 199,000 non-agricultural jobs during the month of November, which allowed unemployment to be reduced by two tenths, to 3.7%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor.

Thus, the unemployment rate in the US is once again approaching the minimum recorded in January and April, when it stood at 3.4%, which was its lowest rate since 1969.

For its part, the personal consumption expenditure price index, the variable preferred by the Fed to monitor inflation, stood at 3% year-on-year in October, four tenths below the previous month. The monthly rate registered stagnation, four tenths less than in September. The underlying variable closed at 3.5%, two tenths less.