How to Look Up the Fed Funds Rate

February 8th, 2023

By Dan Nastou, CFA

The Federal Reserve, or Fed for short, is the central bank of the United States. And it’s tasked with managing the US money supply with the ultimate goals of 1) maintaining maximum employment in the economy, and 2) ensuring price stability (keeping inflation under control).

The Fed does this primarly by adjusting the short-term interest rate called the federal funds rate, which impacts the cost of borrowing and lending in the economy. When we talk about the Fed raising or lowering interest rates, this is what we’re talking about.

Here we’ll break down how you can actually check this rate, and more!

And if you’re looking for even more, we also have a separate guide explaining the link between the Fed, inflation, and the stock market. You can find it here.

But for now, back to the federal funds rate.

The Fed calendar and FOMC statement

The federal funds rate is technically set by the Federal Open Market Committee, or FOMC, which meets eight times a years. The committee is made up of twelve members from the Federal Reserve, including the chairman, currently Jerome Powell.

You can check the FOMC meeting calendar here. And it should look something like this.

The calendar will also include the latest FOMC statement, which explains whether or not the committee decided to change the fed funds rate at the latest meeting, along with some additional context for the decision. The statement will include the current target range for the fed funds rate – it’s always stated as a range, not an exact number. As of the last meeting (January/February 2023), the target range for the fed funds rate was set at 4.5% to 4.75%.

Here’s an excerpt from the latest FOMC statement, with the rate range highlighted.

Fed funds rate – historical chart

In addition to looking up the current fed funds rate, you can also see where it’s been. You can access the data here, and it should look something like this.

As you can see, the rate has fluctuated over time, peaking at close to 20% in the early eighties when the Fed was combating rampant inflation.

Exploring more from the Fed

The Fed website has a lot of other interesting info too. So spend some time checking it and exploring! Or not, either way, now you know how to look up the fed funds rate.