The Federal Reserve decided to hold its benchmark interest rate at its record low 0.25 percent, where the policy statement failed to provide any evidence about the timing of the first liftoff since 2006.
“The labor market continued to improve, with solid job gains and declining unemployment,” the statement said.
The Fed said the housing market has shown further improvement, but “business fixed investment and net exports stayed soft.”
Tightening monetary policy would occur when there are stronger signs of progress in the labor market and as inflation rises towards the central bank’s 2-percent target.
The outlook for the labor market and the economy is “nearly balanced,” the statement said.
The U.S. dollar is currently trading around 96.94, according to the dollar index, after falling to a low of 96.67, following the Fed’s interest rate decision.