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Updated 20 hours ago

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged Wednesday after its first policy meeting of the year, and gave not a wink of new information as to when it might next raise rates.

Instead, the Fed's statement announcing its 10-0 vote to stand pat on interest rates reaffirmed that the economy was continuing to grow moderately and that the central bank was maintaining an easy-money policy to further boost the labor market and return inflation to a more favorable level.

“The Fed held their cards very close to their vest, and they made only minuscule changes to their communications,” said Carl Tannenbaum, chief economist at Northern Trust in Chicago.

The Fed last raised its benchmark short-term interest rate in December, for only the second time in more than a decade and by just a quarter point to a still very low range of 0.5 percent to 0.75 percent.

But after helping steer the economy out of recession and through more than seven years of steady, if unspectacular, growth, Fed policymakers are looking at raising rates to more normal levels.

The question is, how quickly?

The Fed's monetary policy committee, which meets eight times a year, in December projected three more quarter-point rate hikes this year. And there was nothing in the statement Wednesday to suggest that had changed.

Fed officials have repeatedly said the pace and timing of rate increases will depend on their evolving view of the economy, inflation and employment. But the outlook has been obscured by the uncertainty of President Trump's plans for tax cuts and infrastructure spending.

“I don't think they have enough clarity; there's just too much uncertainty,” said Ryan Sweet, who covers the Fed for Moody's Analytics.

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