Rate rise odds drop as Fed calls slowdown a winter effect

Washington

FEDERAL Reserve policymakers said the US economy has weakened, partly for reasons that will fade, after a sharp slowdown reinforced expectations that officials will keep interest rates near zero at their next meeting in June or longer.

"Economic growth slowed during the winter months, in part reflecting transitory factors," the Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement on Wednesday in Washington. "The pace of job gains moderated," it said, and "under-utilisation of labour resources was little changed".