By Kevin Granville and Binyamis Applebaum | The New York Times
When the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate last December after keeping it near zero for seven years, Fed officials were in general agreement that they might increase rates as many as four times in 2016.
They thought the United States economy was finally strong enough — and the prospect of inflation close enough — that it was time to start raising interest rates back toward the level regarded as normal before the financial crisis.
But the economy did not follow that script. The Fed has not raised rates once this year, and it’s unclear when it might do so.
