Washington (CNN Business) The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised interest rates for the fourth time this year, disregarding calls by President Donald Trump to slow down further rates to avoid making "another mistake." "The labor market has continued to strengthen and the economic activity has been rising at a strong rate," the Federal Open Market Committee said in its policy statement. Central bankers unanimously agreed under Chairman Jerome Powell to lift the federal funds rate, which controls the cost of mortgages, credit cards and other borrowing to a range of 2.25% and 2.5%. At their final two-day policy-setting meeting in Washington, policymakers also signaled they would be willing to throttle back on its planned rate increases in 2019 amid growing concerns about a softening economy and rising market volatility. In their statement, policymakers made clear they are attuned to global and financial headwinds facing the US economy, and said they would continue to monitor developments and the impact on their outlook going forward.

Source: CNN December 19, 2018 19:04 UTC