Federal Reserve hikes interest rates

After several months of maintaining rates, the Federal Open Market Committee unanimously voted to raise interest rates at its meeting on Dec. 15 and 16. The new target range for the federal funds rate is 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent.

“The Committee judges that there has been considerable improvement in labor market conditions this year, and it is reasonably confident that inflation will rise, over the medium term, to its 2 percent objective,” the FOMC said in a statement. The Fed said it raised rates “given the economic outlook, and recognizing the time it takes for policy actions to affect future economic outcomes.”

The benchmark rate was lowered to nearly