When Is the Next Fed Meeting?

"When is the next Fed meeting?" is a question that hasn't weighed this heavily on anxious investors' minds in probably four decades. 

Which is fair enough, really. The worst bout of inflation to hit the U.S. economy in 40 years peaked almost two years ago, and yet the Federal Reserve has yet to conclusively abandon the most aggressive campaign of interest rate hikes since the late Carter and early Reagan administrations.

The central bank's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) made the widely expected move of leaving interest rates unchanged when it concluded its last policy meeting in January. If there was any sort of surprise, it was that the Fed appears to have at long last embraced a series of interest rate cuts in 2024. 

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"The Fed remains on track for rate cuts in 2024, but the economy is too strong for telegraphing anything yet," notes David Russell, global head of market strategy at TradeStation. "We still have almost two months of data, plus Congressional testimony. Jerome Powell has no reason to show his hand at this point. Haste makes waste." 

Fed Chair Jerome Powell has said repeatedly that Fed policy is "data dependent." Unfortunately, somewhat mixed economic data aren't conclusively helping the case for lower interest rates.

Although economists as a group have become more optimistic about the path of the economy, surveys show they still put the odds of a recession hitting in the next 12 months at about 50%. They have good reasons to remain cautious. The bond market is awash in inverted yield curves, for one thing, and that's not very reassuring at all. The New York Fed's yield-curve model gives a 61% probability to the U.S. entering a recession over the next 12 months. 

Then there's the labor market, which remains stronger than the Fed would probably like. A hot December jobs report revealing a pick up in wage-growth pressures didn't exactly make the case for lower rates. 

When you consider the Fed's dual mandate of promoting both "maximum" employment and stable prices against the backdrop of financial sector stress and rising recession odds, no wonder investors are obsessed with the question of "when is the next Fed meeting?"

The next Fed meeting: what to expect

For the record, the central bank's rate-setting committee is called the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC).

As you can see from the FOMC meeting calendar below, the committee meets eight times a year. These meetings last two days, and conclude with the FOMC releasing its policy decision at 2 pm Eastern time. The Fed chief then holds a press conference at 2:30 pm. (Pro tip: as closely scrutinized as the Fed statement might be, market participants are usually even more keen on what the Fed chair has to say in the press conference.)

As for the next Fed meeting, it begins on March 19 and will end with a policy statement on March 20 at 2 pm Eastern.

The FOMC has the fed funds rate sitting at 23-year high. For now, at least, the market thinks the Fed is set to hit the pause button once again.  

Indeed, as of March 7, interest rate traders assigned a 97% probability to the FOMC leaving the short-term federal funds rate unchanged at a target range of 5.25% to 5.50%, according to CME Group's FedWatch Tool.

As for when the Fed will enact its first quarter-point rate cut, traders say there's a 59% chance it comes in June. 

For those wondering "when is the next Fed meeting?," have a look at the schedule, courtesy of the FOMC, below.

2024 Fed meetings calendar

• January 30 to 31
• March 19 to 20
• April 30 to May 1
• June 11 to 12
• July 30 to 31
• September 17 to 18
• November 6 to 7
• December 17 to 18

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