Fed Ends the Year With Another Quarter-Point Cut

The Federal Reserve lowered interest rates by another quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday in a move aimed at keeping the job market from worsening. At the conclusion of a two-day policy meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee voted to lower its target range for the federal-funds rate to between 3.5% and 3.75%. Ahead of the decision, the interest-rate futures market had the odds at 90% that officials would trim rates by a quarter percentage point.