The U.S. Federal Reserve Board kept interest rates unchanged today, as was widely expected. At the end of its two-day meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee decided today to keep its target for the federal funds rate unchanged at 1.75%.

No one expected a hike, but there was some talk of the tiny chance for a cut, as recent economic data has not been uniformly positive, as it has in Canada.

In its accompanying policy statement the Fed said, “The information that has become available since the last meeting of the committee confirms that economic activity is continuing to increase. However, both the upward impetus from the swing in inventory investment and the growth in final demand appear to have moderated. The Committee expects the rate of increase of final demand to pick up over coming quarters, supported in part by robust underlying growth in productivity, but the degree of the strengthening remains uncertain.”

The Fed also maintained its neutral bias, suggesting that it believes that the economy is still on the road to recovery. it said, “In these circumstances, although the stance of monetary policy is currently accommodative, the Committee believes that, for the foreseeable future, against the background of its long run goals of price stability and sustainable economic growth and of the information currently available, the risks are balanced with respect to the prospects for both goals.”