Martin Crutsinger

Fueled by vaccinations and government aid, the U.S. economy showed another sign that the nation has achieved a sustained recovery from the pandemic recession.

As consumers venture away from home, demand has spread from manufactured goods to services — airline fares, for example, along with restaurant meals and hotel prices.

Powered by consumers and fueled by government aid, the U.S. economy is achieving a remarkably fast recovery from the pandemic recession.

The Fed’s upgraded forecasts raised questions about what would cause it eventually to raise its key short-term rate, which affects many consumer and business loans.

It is estimated that 85% of Americans will be eligible for the payments and the goal is to have millions of the payments disbursed in the next few weeks.

Stuck in the grip of a viral pandemic, the U.S. economy grew at a 4% annual rate in the final three months of 2020 but shrank last year by the largest amount in 74 years.

The Commerce Department’s estimate Thursday of third-quarter growth regained only about two-thirds of the output that was lost early this year when the economy essentially froze.

The Commerce Department's estimate of the second-quarter decline in the gross domestic product, the total output of goods and services, marked the sharpest such drop on records dating to 1947.

The federal government began the new budget year with a deficit in October that was 33.8% bigger than a year ago as spending hit a record.

With pressures on the U.S. economy rising — a global slowdown, a trade war with China, a nervous stock market — the Powell Fed is now signaling that it’s in no hurry to resume raising rates after having done so four times in 2018.

Wednesday’s quarter-point increase, to a range of 2.25 percent to 2.5 percent, lifted the Fed’s benchmark rate to its highest point since 2008.

The Fed’s actions and its updated economic forecasts Wednesday had been widely anticipated, and there was little immediate reaction in the stock or bond markets.

The Federal Reserve is raising interest rates after seven years of record lows. But it's signaling that further rate hikes will likely be made slowly as the economy strengthens further and muted inflation rises.

The Federal Reserve is keeping U.S. interest rates at record lows in the face of threats from a weak global economy, persistently low inflation and unstable financial markets.