United States Prime Rate

also known as the Fed, National or United States Prime Rate,
from the interest-rate specialists at www.FedPrimeRate.comSM

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Fifth FOMC Meeting of 2016 Adjourned: U.S. Prime Rate Holds At 3.5%

FOMC votes to leave short-term rates unchanged; US Prime Rate to continue at 3.5%
U.S. Prime Rate
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the Federal Reserve has just adjourned its fifth monetary policy meeting of 2016 and, in accordance with our most recent forecast, has voted to leave short-term interest rates at their current levels. Therefore, the benchmark target range for the federal funds rate will remain at 0.25% - 0.5%, and the United States Prime Rate (a.k.a the National or Fed Prime Rate) will continue at the current 3.5%.

Here's a clip from today's FOMC press release (note text in bold):

"...Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in June indicates that the labor market strengthened and that economic activity has been expanding at a moderate rate. Job gains were strong in June following weak growth in May. On balance, payrolls and other labor market indicators point to some increase in labor utilization in recent months. Household spending has been growing strongly but business fixed investment has been soft. Inflation has continued to run below the Committee's 2 percent longer-run objective, partly reflecting earlier declines in energy prices and in prices of non-energy imports. Market-based measures of inflation compensation remain low; most survey-based measures of longer-term inflation expectations are little changed, on balance, in recent months.

Consistent with its statutory mandate, the Committee seeks to foster maximum employment and price stability. The Committee currently expects that, with gradual adjustments in the stance of monetary policy, economic activity will expand at a moderate pace and labor market indicators will strengthen. Inflation is expected to remain low in the near term, in part because of earlier declines in energy prices, but to rise to 2 percent over the medium term as the transitory effects of past declines in energy and import prices dissipate and the labor market strengthens further. Near-term risks to the economic outlook have diminished. The Committee continues to closely monitor inflation indicators and global economic and financial developments.

Against this backdrop, the Committee decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 1/4 to 1/2 percent. The stance of monetary policy remains accommodative, thereby supporting further improvement in labor market conditions and a return to 2 percent inflation.

In determining the timing and size of future adjustments to the target range for the federal funds rate, the Committee will assess realized and expected economic conditions relative to its objectives of maximum employment and 2 percent inflation. This assessment will take into account a wide range of information, including measures of labor market conditions, indicators of inflation pressures and inflation expectations, and readings on financial and international developments. In light of the current shortfall of inflation from 2 percent, the Committee will carefully monitor actual and expected progress toward its inflation goal. The Committee expects that economic conditions will evolve in a manner that will warrant only gradual increases in the federal funds rate; the federal funds rate is likely to remain, for some time, below levels that are expected to prevail in the longer run. However, the actual path of the federal funds rate will depend on the economic outlook as informed by incoming data.

The Committee is maintaining its existing policy of reinvesting principal payments from its holdings of agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities in agency mortgage-backed securities and of rolling over maturing Treasury securities at auction, and it anticipates doing so until normalization of the level of the federal funds rate is well under way. This policy, by keeping the Committee's holdings of longer-term securities at sizable levels, should help maintain accommodative financial conditions.

Voting for the FOMC monetary policy action were: Janet L. Yellen, Chair; William C. Dudley, Vice Chairman; Lael Brainard; James Bullard; Stanley Fischer; Loretta J. Mester; Jerome H. Powell; Eric Rosengren; and Daniel K. Tarullo. Voting against the action was Esther L. George, who preferred at this meeting to raise the target range for the federal funds rate to 1/2 to 3/4 percent..."

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Sunday, July 10, 2016

Odds At 98.8% (Extremely Likely) The U.S. Prime Rate Will Remain At 3.5% After The July 27, 2016 FOMC Monetary Policy Meeting

Prime Rate Forecast / Prediction
Prime Rate Forecast
Latest Prime Rate Forecast

As of right now, the investors who trade in fed fund futures via the CME Group have odds at 98.8% (as implied by current pricing on contracts) that the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will vote leave the target range for the benchmark fed funds rate at 0.25% - 0.5% at the July 27TH, 2016 monetary policy meeting (extremely likely.)

The current United States Prime Rate, which went into effect on December 17, 2015, is 3.5%.

NB: U.S. Prime Rate = (The Fed Funds Target Rate + 3)

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Despite recent and very healthy reports on jobs (jobless claims and employment), future-market traders are betting that the Fed will leave short-term rates -- including the U.S. Prime Rate -- unchanged at the July 27TH FOMC meeting.

Stay tuned for the latest odds...

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Current Odds
  • Current odds that the Prime Rate will continue at 3.5% after the July 27TH, 2016 FOMC monetary policy meeting: 98.8% (extremely likely.)

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  • Current odds that the Prime Rate will continue at 3.5% after the September 21ST, 2016 FOMC monetary policy meeting: 93% (very likely.)

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  • Current odds that the Prime Rate will continue at 3.5% after the November 2ND, 2016 FOMC monetary policy meeting: 93% (very likely.)

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  • Current odds that the Prime Rate will continue at 3.5% after the December 14TH, 2016 FOMC monetary policy meeting: 75.4% (somewhat likely), with a 22.5% chance of a 25 basis point (0.25 percentage point) rate increase, and a 0.9% chance of a 25 basis point rate cut.

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  • NB: United States Prime Rate = (The Fed Funds Target Rate + 3)

The odds associated with fed fund futures contracts -- widely accepted as the best predictor of what the FOMC will do with the benchmark Fed Funds Target Rate -- are constantly changing, so stay tuned for the latest odds.

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