US Federal Reserve keeps interest rate unchanged

By Ovunc Kutlu

NEW YORK (AA) - The U.S. Federal Reserve announced Wednesday it will maintain a target benchmark interest rate range of 1.5 percent to 1.75 percent.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) said in a statement its members unanimously voted to keep the interest rate unchanged.

The labor market has continued to strengthen and economic activity has been rising at a moderate rate, the Fed said.

It added that job gains have been strong and the unemployment rate has stayed low.

The inflation rate, on the other hand, has moved closer to the Fed's 2 percent target, the statement said.

This increases the possibility of a rate hike in the next meeting on June 12-13, according to experts.

The central bank last increased its benchmark interest rate on March 21.

The bank made a total of six rate hikes since December 2015, three of them last year.