New Jersey
Fed keeps interest rates same, as expected, with changes likely months away – New Jersey Monitor
The Fed held key interest rates steady again Wednesday, as expected, and signaled that a decision that could affect everything from credit card rates to the housing market to new business creation could still be months away.
It was the fourth consecutive time the central bank has left the rate unchanged since its September 2023 announcement. In March 2022, the Fed began aggressively raising rates to stop ballooning inflation.
Following the announcement, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that confidence is growing that inflation is coming down to meet the Fed’s target of 2%, it needs to see more data to decide to cut rates, particularly in the 12-month core inflation data.
But Powell said its confidence likely won’t be strong enough to cut rates by March as many economists believed would happen, meaning it could be May before a decision is made to cut rates.
“I think to get to that place where we feel comfortable starting the process we need some confirmation that inflation is in fact coming down, sustainably to 2%,” Powell said.
Powell added that serious changes to the labor market would affect the Fed’s decisions about when to cut rates.
“If we saw an unexpected weakening certainly in the labor market, that would weigh on cutting sooner,” he said. “And if we saw inflation being stickier or higher, or those sorts of things, we’d argue for moving later.”
The decision to hold rates steady was in line with economists’ expectations for the meeting. The issue of when to stop increasing rates and when to begin cutting rates, to avoid harming the economy and cause high unemployment, has been a matter of intense debate among economists and policymakers during this latest cycle of rate hikes. Over the past six months, core inflation or the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index is 1.9%, leading some economists to argue that it’s time to begin cutting rates.
Mike Konczal, director of macroeconomic analysis at the Roosevelt Institute, a progressive think tank, said it would make sense for the Fed to begin cutting rates soon.
“[A cut] is appropriate given how much inflation has fallen, both faster and in a more broad way than the Federal Reserve thought even six or nine months ago,” Konczal said. “The Fed is targeting a level of inflation that is just not the reality right now in the economy.”
The Federal Reserve has a pivotal decision to make in the coming months — when to start cutting interest rates after an aggressive campaign of rate hikes to combat inflation. Some economists worry that if the Fed doesn’t cut rates soon enough, now that the rise in core inflation over the past six months is in line with the Fed’s 2% inflation target, it could damage the labor market and send ripples through the economy.
There is some risk to waiting too long to cut rates, Konczal said. Although the economy is adding jobs and decent wage growth continues, he’s looking for signs of cracks underneath the surface of an otherwise stable labor market. He said that the rate for people leaving their jobs and being hired for new ones has slowed.
If the Fed waits too long to change course, he said there could be some danger of the unemployment rate ticking up too fast.
“Once those things start to fall, they fall very quickly,” he said.
Several Democratic senators have urged the Fed to begin cutting rates, arguing that it could hurt the economy not to do so as soon as possible, a reminder that the economy will be a big issue in the fall elections. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) , chair of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs advocated for Powell to lower rates in a letter addressed to the chairman this week.
Brown wrote his own letter, which highlighted the struggles of Ohioans he said are not able to rent or buy homes, a problem he said has been exacerbated by higher interest rates.
“I hear from so many Ohioans that they feel trapped – those who rent feel like they’ll never be able to afford to buy and those who already own their homes feel like they will never be able to afford a larger one if they decide to grow their family,” Brown wrote.
Sometime after the Fed cuts rates, Americans can expect to see relief in the housing market, where homeowners have struggled with low housing supply and high prices, and high demand for rentals that has also pushed up rental prices.
“The first place where we see the reaction in the economy is the housing market and is in those mortgage applications, like some refinancing, for example,” Lara Rhame, chief U.S. economist and managing director of FS Investments. “The other places we see it are things like auto sales, which are very interest-rate sensitive. It’s worth noting that credit card interest payments have really increased, but that doesn’t move until the Fed actually cuts rates. That’s a shorter term interest rate, but when the Fed cuts, that will start to come down a little bit.”
William Hauk, associate professor of economics at the University of South Carolina, said it could take a while for the average person to feel a shift in the economy as a result of Fed policy changes.
“How quickly this translates into changes for the rest of the economy is a matter of some debate. Making it easier for people and firms to borrow and/or refinance loans does typically have a positive impact on economic demand,” he said. “And people spending money is good for keeping the economy out of recession. However, this effect typically hits the broader economy with a lag, perhaps as long as 12 to 18 months.”
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
It’s been nearly a decade and a half since the Brooklyn Nets moved out of New Jersey.
The organization has completely revamped its vibe since switching states, ditching the red, white and blue look for a very basic black and white colorway.
The Nets have also intermittently changed the colors of the banners hanging up in the Barclays Center from red, white and blue to black and white, much to the chagrin of traditional Nets fans.
Despite the Nets now playing in a bigger market and being far removed from their days in the Garden State, some fans seem to hope for the Nets to make their return across the river. New Jersey governor Mikie Sherrill was asked about the matter.
“I mean, would I support it? I ask about it all the time,” Sherrill said. “I love the idea. So, I have been pressing for that. I haven’t made a lot of headway yet; you know, maybe in my second 100 days.
“But I do think there is some work being done for some — I don’t know if I’m allowed to say too much about it — but some people are working on some different sports coming into the Rock.”
As time went on, the Nets eventually started to embrace more of their New Jersey roots, which started when they rocked a clean tie-dye jersey from the 90s during the 2020-21 season.
The next season, the Nets followed it up with uniforms commemorating their run in the 2000s, when the team got to the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003 and endlessly broke the ESPN top 10 with each crazy Jason Kidd assist and Vince Carter dunk.
It’s fitting that Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, the latter of whom grew up in New Jersey as a Nets fan, got to rock these uniforms, helping boost the popularity of the New Jersey brand to a wide array of fans.
True Nets fans embraced the Continental Airlines Arena/Izod Center and the swamps of East Rutherford, getting to witness a winning basketball team for a fraction of the cost of the team mired in dysfunction that happened to play their home games at “The World’s Most Famous Arena.”
Not many marquee free agents would have signed up to play in New Jersey, but real fans remember the good times in the swamps, especially with Sly the Fox as the team’s mascot. Those times deserve to be remembered properly.
Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow
ATLANTIC COUNTY, N.J. (WPVI) — Drivers heading to the shore on Friday afternoon saw slow-moving traffic for several miles coming off the Walt Whitman bridge, but many travelers said the start of the holiday weekend was smoother than they anticipated.
Aldara Madden, who was traveling with her friend Elana Maser, said the trip moved faster than she expected.
“I was expecting it to take a lot longer,” she said.
Maser added that they left school early to avoid delays.
“My mom and I do that every year and then we always stop here as our little pre-down the shore,” she said.
Others shared similar experiences.
“I’m coming from Bucks County, so I was worried there was gonna be some traffic but it really wasn’t bad at all,” said Erin McFadden of Churchville, who was headed to Ocean City.
AAA reported that while slightly more people are traveling by car this year compared to last, 2026 is projected to have the lowest year-over-year travel growth rate in more than a decade, excluding the steep drop seen in 2020 during the pandemic.
The organization attributes the slowdown largely to concerns over rising prices.
“Gas is ridiculously expensive and I think all the time before going anywhere these days,” said Debbie Maser of Philadelphia. “But this is our happy place and nothing can keep us away.”
A dreary weekend forecast may also be influencing travel patterns.
“I was thinking that, I wonder if there’ll be less congestion on the roads because of the weather,” said Kyra Wolin of Massachusetts. “It’s not looking to be too good this weekend with the rain.”
Still, many shore-bound travelers said tradition outweighs any concerns about rain or crowds.
“No not at all. You go down. You get it done,” said George Miller of Lansdale.
Eric Wolin of Massachusetts agreed: “Never, never. Margate’s a special place for us.”
As the unofficial start of summer begins, travelers said they remain committed to kicking off the season in their favorite spots, not letting rain, traffic, or high prices keep them away.
Copyright © 2026 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.
This story is part of the WHYY News Climate Desk, bringing you news and solutions for our changing region.
From the Poconos to the Jersey Shore to the mouth of the Delaware Bay, what do you want to know about climate change? What would you like us to cover? Get in touch.
As summer begins, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill is urging residents to limit lawn watering, and hand water flowers and shrubs as a drought warning continues. The warning, in place since December 2025, could turn into a drought emergency if conditions do not improve. The state has suffered eight consecutive months of below-normal rainfall, according to officials.
“New Jersey is experiencing a chronic water supply drought, the scale of which we haven’t seen in more than twenty years,” state geologist Steven Domber said in a statement issued earlier this month. “The indicators that we track closely are showing persistently dry conditions. With uncertainty for rainfall in the coming months, we need residents to conserve water today, to ensure we have enough to sustain our needs over the summer.”
The Department of Environmental Protection uses a variety of indicators to determine drought levels, including precipitation, stream flows, reservoir levels, ground water levels and demand.
In addition to the last two months, officials say, the state “experienced below normal precipitation for 20 of the last 24 months since September 2024,” despite heavy snowfall events this past winter that helped restore reservoirs in North Jersey.
“While we saw a little relief over the winter, New Jersey is feeling the effects of nearly two years of below-normal precipitation,” Sherrill said in a statement earlier this month. She urged residents to voluntarily conserve water.
New Jersey state climatologist David Robinson said that since precipitation has been below normal for most of the last 24 months, the recent winter weather did not provide enough water to help restore streams and groundwater.
Should a drought emergency be declared, mandatory water restrictions would be put in place. The last drought emergency lasted almost a year, between March 2002 and January 2003.
-
Connecticut5 minutes agoOvernight forecast for May 23
-
Delaware11 minutes agoDelaware Memorial Day parades face challenges, still connect neighbors
-
Florida17 minutes agoSpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch from Florida will kick off Memorial Day
-
Georgia23 minutes agoGeorgia Southern student-athletes recognized for community service and excellence through partnership with Downtown Statesboro Rotary
-
Hawaii29 minutes agoUSGS evaluates Kilauea after magnitude 6 quake near Hawaii’s Big Island
-
Idaho35 minutes agoIdaho Parents Owing Over $100,000 in Child Support Face U.S….
-
Illinois41 minutes agoDes Plaines Rises To No. 9 In Illinois On Latest ‘Best Places To Live’ List – Journal & Topics Media Group
-
Indiana47 minutes agoSpeedway’s Rockin’ on Main draws crowd, despite the rain
