As predicted, the Federal Reserve just cut the benchmark Federal Funds rate by another 25 basis points (0.25 percentage points), the third such rate cut this year.
Having dropped its benchmark rate a total of 5 percentage points between August of 2007 and the end of 2008, a move which helped drive the 30-year mortgage rate down to an all-time low of 3.31 percent in 2012, the Fed started raising rates at the end of 2015.
But having only managed to add back a total of 2.25 percentage points prior to the first of this year’s three cuts, the target range for the federal funds rate is now back down to 1.50 to 1.75 percent, leaving much less room for any future cuts should the need arise.