Fed leaves rates unchanged, commits to more bond purchases

The Federal Reserve left interest rates near zero, a move first made in March.

The Fed also on Wednesday committed to buying more government-backed debt. It has purchased some $120 million in bonds each month since March.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said government initiatives are “trying to work together to try to create a bridge across this economic chasm that was created by the pandemic, and for many Americans, that bridge is there, and they’re across it."

“But there’s a group for which they don’t have a bridge yet," he added. “It’s the 10 million people who lost their jobs, it’s the people who may lose their homes. You see the many, many millions of Americans who are waiting in food lines in their cars these days.”

Read more from The New York Times.