(MENAFN- AFP) The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that the US economy is picking up after a winter chill, and kept its monetary policy course unchanged.
As expected, the Fed made another $10 billion cut to its monthly bond-buying stimulus operations, but left the benchmark federal funds rate locked near zero, noting inflation is restrained while unemployment "remains elevated".
The Federal Open Market Committee, led by Fed Chair Janet Yellen, concluded after a two-day meeting that economic activity "has picked up recently after having slowed sharply during the winter in part because of adverse weather conditions."
While mixed, the data coming from the labor market, a central focus of the FOMC, has "on balance showed further improvement," the committee said in its policy statement.
While household spending has picked up, the FOMC noted weak spots in lower investment by businesses and slower activity in the housing sector.
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