Jeanna Smialek

Employers added 303,000 jobs in March, the 39th straight month of job growth. The unemployment rate fell to 3.8 percent.

Investors went into 2024 expecting the Federal Reserve to cut rates sharply. Stubborn inflation and quick growth call that into question.

Market pricing now suggests that rates will end the year in the neighborhood of 4.75%. That would mean Fed officials had cut rates two or three times from their current 5.3%.

Inflation was quicker than expected in March, unwelcome news for the Fed.

Stubborn inflation and strong growth could keep the Federal Reserve wary about interest rate cuts, eager to avoid adding vim to the economy.

The United States seemed headed for an economic fairy-tale ending in late 2023. The painfully rapid inflation that had kicked off in 2021 appeared to be cooling in earnest, and economic growth had begun to gradually moderate after a series of Federal Reserve interest rate increases.

Hopes for substantial cuts in interest rates are fading as inflation shows more staying power than expected.

The Federal Reserve is expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but investors are bracing for signals that rates will stay high for longer.

Federal Reserve officials left interest rates unchanged and signaled wariness about the recent pace of inflation, a hint that they may keep borrowing costs high for longer.

The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged and Jerome H. Powell, the central bank’s chair, said that gaining greater confidence in bringing down inflation would “take longer than previously expected.”