The benchmark interest rate in the United States was last recorded at 4.50 percent. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United States Fed Funds Rate - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

Historical dataset of the daily level of the federal funds rate back to 1954. The fed funds rate is the interest rate at which depository institutions (banks and credit unions) lend reserve balances to other depository institutions overnight, on an uncollateralized basis. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meets eight times a year to determine the federal funds target rate.

Graph and download economic data for Interest Rates: Immediate Rates (< 24 Hours): Federal Funds Rate: Total for United States (IRSTFR01USA156N) from 1960 to 2023 about federal, interest rate, interest, rate, and USA.

The U.S. federal funds effective rate underwent a dramatic reduction in early 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The rate plummeted from 1.58 percent in February 2020 to 0.65 percent in March, and further decreased to 0.05 percent in April. This sharp reduction, accompanied by the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing program, was implemented to stabilize the economy during the global health crisis. After maintaining historically low rates for nearly two years, the Federal Reserve began a series of rate hikes in early 2022, with the rate moving from 0.33 percent in April 2022 to 5.33 percent in August 2023. The rate remained unchanged for over a year, before the Federal Reserve initiated its first rate cut in nearly three years in September 2024, bringing the rate to 5.13 percent. By December 2024, the rate was cut to 4.48 percent, signaling a shift in monetary policy in the second half of 2024. The first rate cut in 2025 then set the rate at 4.33 percent. What is the federal funds effective rate? The U.S. federal funds effective rate determines the interest rate paid by depository institutions, such as banks and credit unions, that lend reserve balances to other depository institutions overnight. Changing the effective rate in times of crisis is a common way to stimulate the economy, as it has a significant impact on the whole economy, such as economic growth, employment, and inflation. Central bank policy rates The adjustment of interest rates in response to the COVID-19 pandemic was a coordinated global effort. In early 2020, central banks worldwide implemented aggressive monetary easing policies to combat the economic crisis. The U.S. Federal Reserve's dramatic reduction of its federal funds rate - from 1.58 percent in February 2020 to 0.05 percent by April - mirrored similar actions taken by central banks globally. While these low rates remained in place throughout 2021, mounting inflationary pressures led to a synchronized tightening cycle beginning in 2022, with central banks pushing rates to multi-year highs. By mid-2024, as inflation moderated across major economies, central banks began implementing their first rate cuts in several years, with the U.S. Federal Reserve, Bank of England, and European Central Bank all easing monetary policy.

The U.S. federal funds rate peaked in 2023 at its highest level since the 2007-08 financial crisis, reaching 5.33 percent by December 2023. A significant shift in monetary policy occurred in the second half of 2024, with the Federal Reserve implementing regular rate cuts. By December 2024, the rate had declined to 4.48 percent. What is a central bank rate? The federal funds rate determines the cost of overnight borrowing between banks, allowing them to maintain necessary cash reserves and ensure financial system liquidity. When this rate rises, banks become more inclined to hold rather than lend money, reducing the money supply. While this decreased lending slows economic activity, it helps control inflation by limiting the circulation of money in the economy. Historic perspective The federal funds rate historically follows cyclical patterns, falling during recessions and gradually rising during economic recoveries. Some central banks, notably the European Central Bank, went beyond traditional monetary policy by implementing both aggressive asset purchases and negative interest rates.

View data of the Effective Federal Funds Rate, or the interest rate depository institutions charge each other for overnight loans of funds.

Effective Federal Funds Rate in the United States remained unchanged at 4.33 percent on Tuesday February 11. This dataset includes a chart with historical data for the United States Effective Federal Funds Rate.

The inflation rate in the United States declined significantly between June 2022 and January 2025, despite rising inflationary pressures towards the end of 2024. The peak inflation rate was recorded in June 2022, at 9.1 percent. In August 2023, the Federal Reserve's interest rate hit its highest level during the observed period, at 5.33 percent, and remained unchanged until September 2024, when the Federal Reserve implemented its first rate cut since September 2021. By January 2025, the rate dropped to 4.33 percent, signalling a shift in monetary policy. What is the Federal Reserve interest rate? The Federal Reserve interest rate, or the federal funds rate, is the rate at which banks and credit unions lend to and borrow from each other. It is one of the Federal Reserve's key tools for maintaining strong employment rates, stable prices, and reasonable interest rates. The rate is determined by the Federal Reserve and adjusted eight times a year, though it can be changed through emergency meetings during times of crisis. The Fed doesn't directly control the interest rate but sets a target rate. It then uses open market operations to influence rates toward this target. Ways of measuring inflation Inflation is typically measured using several methods, with the most common being the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The CPI tracks the price of a fixed basket of goods and services over time, providing a measure of the price changes consumers face. At the end of 2023, the CPI in the United States was 158.11 percent, up from 153.12 a year earlier. A more business-focused measure is the producer price index (PPI), which represents the costs of firms.

Graph and download economic data for Federal Funds Target Range - Upper Limit (DFEDTARU) from 2008-12-16 to 2025-03-26 about federal, interest rate, interest, rate, and USA.

We apply a discrete choice approach to model the empirical behaviour of the Federal Reserve in changing the federal funds target rate, the benchmark of short-term market interest rates in the US. Our methods allow the explanatory variables to be nonstationary as well as stationary. This feature is particularly useful in the present application as many economic fundamentals that are monitored by the Fed and are believed to affect decisions to adjust interest rate targets display some nonstationarity over time. The chosen model successfully predicts the majority of the target rate changes during the time period considered (1994-2001) and helps to explain strings of similar intervention decisions by the Fed. Based on the model-implied optimal interest rate, our findings suggest that there is a lag in the Fed's reaction to economic shocks during this period.

Key information about United States Short Term Interest Rate

• United States Short Term Interest Rate: Month End: Treasury Bills: 3 Months was reported at 4.20 % pa in Feb 2025, compared with 4.20 % pa in the previous month.
• US Short Term Interest Rate data is updated monthly, available from Jan 1954 to Feb 2025.
• The data reached an all-time high of 15.52 % pa in Aug 1981 and a record low of -0.01 % pa in Sep 2015.
• Short Term Interest Rate is reported by reported by Federal Reserve Board.

• In the latest reports, US Treasury Notes Yield: Constant Maturity: Nominal: 10 Years was reported at 4.45 % pa in Feb 2025.
• The cash rate (Policy Rate: Month End: Effective Federal Funds Rate) was set at 4.33 % pa in Jan 2025.

Household Saving Rate in the United States increased to 4.60 percent in January from 3.50 percent in December of 2024. This dataset provides - United States Personal Savings Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

United States FOMC Projection: Federal Funds Rate: Central Tendency: Y3: Upper End data was reported at 3.600 % in Dec 2024. This stayed constant from the previous number of 3.600 % for Sep 2024. United States FOMC Projection: Federal Funds Rate: Central Tendency: Y3: Upper End data is updated quarterly, averaging 3.200 % from Sep 2015 (Median) to Dec 2024, with 20 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 4.100 % in Sep 2023 and a record low of 0.400 % in Dec 2020. United States FOMC Projection: Federal Funds Rate: Central Tendency: Y3: Upper End data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Federal Reserve Board. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.M003: Federal Funds Rates: Summary of Economic Projections: Federal Reserve Board.

United States FOMC Projection: Federal Funds Rate: Median: Year 3 (Y3) data was reported at 3.100 % in Dec 2024. This records an increase from the previous number of 2.900 % for Sep 2024. United States FOMC Projection: Federal Funds Rate: Median: Year 3 (Y3) data is updated quarterly, averaging 2.900 % from Sep 2015 (Median) to Dec 2024, with 20 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3.400 % in Sep 2018 and a record low of 0.100 % in Dec 2020. United States FOMC Projection: Federal Funds Rate: Median: Year 3 (Y3) data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Federal Reserve Board. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.M003: Federal Funds Rates: Summary of Economic Projections: Federal Reserve Board.

United States FCI-G Index: 1-Yr Lookback: Federal Funds Rate data was reported at -0.077 Index in Jan 2025. This records a decrease from the previous number of -0.065 Index for Dec 2024. United States FCI-G Index: 1-Yr Lookback: Federal Funds Rate data is updated monthly, averaging 0.000 Index from Jan 1990 (Median) to Jan 2025, with 421 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.295 Index in Jan 2023 and a record low of -0.285 Index in Dec 2001. United States FCI-G Index: 1-Yr Lookback: Federal Funds Rate data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Federal Reserve Board. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.S021: Financial Conditions Impulse on Growth.

The benchmark interest rate in Japan was last recorded at 0.50 percent. This dataset provides - Japan Interest Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Content

More details about each file are in the individual file descriptions.

Context

This is a dataset from the Federal Reserve hosted by the Federal Reserve Economic Database (FRED). FRED has a data platform found here and they update their information according to the frequency that the data updates. Explore the Federal Reserve using Kaggle and all of the data sources available through the Federal Reserve organization page!

• Update Frequency: This dataset is updated daily.

Acknowledgements

This dataset is maintained using FRED's API and Kaggle's API.

Cover photo by bill wegener on Unsplash
Unsplash Images are distributed under a unique Unsplash License.

In this paper we model and explain US macroeconomic outcomes subject to the discipline that monetary policy is set optimally. Exploiting the restrictions that come from optimal policymaking, we estimate the parameters in the Federal Reserve's policy objective function together with the parameters in its optimization constraints. For the period following Volcker's appointment as chairman, we estimate the implicit inflation target to be around 1.4% and show that policymakers assigned a significant weight to interest rate smoothing. We show that the estimated optimal policy provides a good description of US data for the 1980s and 1990s.

United States Proxy Funds Rate: Monthly data was reported at 5.109 % pa in Feb 2025. This records an increase from the previous number of 5.044 % pa for Jan 2025. United States Proxy Funds Rate: Monthly data is updated monthly, averaging 5.082 % pa from Jun 1976 (Median) to Feb 2025, with 585 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 17.421 % pa in Sep 1981 and a record low of -1.423 % pa in Jan 2011. United States Proxy Funds Rate: Monthly data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.M006: Proxy Funds Rates.

Content

Noon buying rates in New York City for cable transfers payable in foreign currencies.

Context

This is a dataset from the Federal Reserve hosted by the Federal Reserve Economic Database (FRED). FRED has a data platform found here and they update their information according to the frequency that the data updates. Explore the Federal Reserve using Kaggle and all of the data sources available through the Federal Reserve organization page!

• Update Frequency: This dataset is updated daily.

• Observation Start: 1981-01-02

• Observation End : 2019-12-13

Acknowledgements

This dataset is maintained using FRED's API and Kaggle's API.

Cover photo by Shubhankar Sharma on Unsplash
Unsplash Images are distributed under a unique Unsplash License.