The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), part of the Federal Reserve, held its last meeting of the year to discuss and vote on interest rates and their view of the direction of the economy.
At the meeting, they decided to keep interest rates where they are and in the statement released said "Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in November confirms that the economic recovery is continuing, though at a rate that has been insufficient to bring down unemployment."
They also restated their plan to purchase $600 billion in U.S. treasury securities by the end of the second quarter of 2011.
The FOMC holds eight regularly scheduled meetings per year. They review economic and financial conditions, determine the appropriate stance of monetary policy, and assess risks to its goal of price stability and sustainable economic growth according to their website.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) consists of twelve members, the seven members of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, along with the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and four of the remaining eleven Reserve Bank presidents, who serve one-year terms on a rotating basis.