Three Things To Watch For In The Fed’s Upcoming September Decision

On September 20 at 2p.m. ET the Federal Reserve will announce its decision on interest rates. No change in rates is expected. However, here are some of the key signals that the market will be looking for in assessing future moves in the target range for the Fed Funds rate, which is 5.25% to 5.5% currently.

Changes In Statement Language

The Fed’s press releases announcing their interest rate decisions and reviewing the economic situation changes its language incrementally, by design. In July the Fed referenced “robust” job gains. That language may weaken on recent jobs data. That’s because job openings have reduced and job creation appears to be running at a slower pace. The jobs market appears fine for now, but may be less hot than it was. A weakening jobs market may make the Fed less enthusiastic to raise rates from here.