WASHINGTON — On this, pretty much every economist agrees: The Federal Reserve will keep interest rates unchanged when it ends its latest policy meeting Wednesday. What's unclear is whether it will hint about the likelihood of a rate hike at its next meeting in June.
With the U.S. job market healthy and the stock market up, some economists think the Fed will want to put investors on notice that a June rate increase is conceivable.
"If June is a possibility, they will want to prepare markets for that," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics.
But many other analysts say they expect the statement that the Fed will issue Wednesday to convey little about the timing of its next rate hike, given that the outlook for global growth remains so uncertain.
Read Thursday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.