--- title: The Federal Reserve Raises Interest Rates For A Third Time This Year description: An increasingly transparent Federal Reserve lifted interest rates for a third time this year, and did little to discourage expectations for a fourth increase later on in 2018, most likely in December. The latest increase was widely expected and caused nary a ripple on Wall Street. image: https://investor.valueline.com/hubfs/VL%20Blog%20Images/Financial_3140396_200x140.jpg --- [![The Value Line Blog](https://investor.valueline.com/hubfs/VL%20Blog%20Images/vl_blog_header.png)](https://investor.valueline.com/blog) [Market Commentary](https://investor.valueline.com/blog/topic/market-commentary) # The Federal Reserve Raises Interest Rates For A Third Time This Year September 26, 2018 An increasingly transparent Federal Reserve lifted interest rates for a third time this year, and did little to discourage expectations for a fourth increase later on in 2018, most likely in December. The latest increase was widely expected and caused nary a ripple on Wall Street. Specifically, the central bank increased the federal funds rate from a range of 1.75%-2.00% to 2.00%-2.25%. Previous rate hikes had been voted for this year in March and June. In all, this was the eighth such increase since 2015 and continues the pattern of gradually tightening the monetary aggregates. The bank indicated that the labor market has continued to strengthen and that economic activity has been rising at a strong rate. The arguments for this latest rate action also included the information that household spending and business fixed investment had continued to grow strongly and that inflation had remained near the Fed's target of 2%. The action just taken reflected the view that realized and expected labor market conditions and inflation were such as to justify this modestly tighter approach. Going forward, the Fed will assess economic conditions and prospects relative to its goal of maximum employment and 2% inflation. We think that will result in several additional rate increases over the next 18 months, or so. Meanwhile, as the Fed’s decision and statement approached, the Dow had been up about 50 points; it has since about doubled that advance suggesting that the Street remains comfortable with this latest move and the prospect of a fourth rate hike in December. Our thinking is that the economy can handle such further adjustments. - Harvey S. Katz, CFA *At the time of this article’s writing, the author did not have positions in any of the companies mentioned.* [![Register now for our free One Stock to Buy webinar](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2532383/5a80130b-f0ce-4bd8-acbd-f077f2232ec5.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2532383/5a80130b-f0ce-4bd8-acbd-f077f2232ec5) ### Popular Posts Search Search Blog ### Topics - [Investing 101 (2)](https://investor.valueline.com/blog/topic/investing-101) - [Market Commentary (37)](https://investor.valueline.com/blog/topic/market-commentary) - [Stock Highlights (390)](https://investor.valueline.com/blog/topic/stock-highlights) - [Stock Market Today (2071)](https://investor.valueline.com/blog/topic/stock-market-today) Copyright 2026 Value Line, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factual material is obtained from sources believed to be reliable and is provided without warranties of any kind. VALUE LINE IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ERRORS OR OMISSIONS HEREIN OR ANY DAMAGES OR LOSSES ARISING FROM ANY USE OF THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN. This blog is strictly for subscriber's own, non-commercial, internal use. No part of it may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any printed, electronic or other form, or used for generating or marketing any printed or electronic publication, service or product. Officers, directors, or employees of Value Line, Inc. and its affiliates and subsidiaries, and EULAV Asset Management, may own stocks that are featured in this email. Nothing herein should be construed as an offer to buy or sell securities or to give individual investment advice. Value Line, the Value Line logo, The Most Trusted Name in Investment Research, “Smart research. Smarter investing.”, The Value Line Investment Survey, Timeliness, and Safety are trademarks or registered trademarks of Value Line, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries.