Fed Cuts Key Rate by Half Point

The Federal Reserve cut a key interest rate by a half percentage point today, reports the Wall Street Journal, bringing the benchmark overnight lending rate down to 3% even as officials signaled that further cuts were possible. The widely anticipated move follows last week's emergency .75% cut to a rate that stood at 5.25% just a few months ago.

The half-point cut signaled the Fed's desire to expedite economic recovery, even if it meant  quickly raising rates should the cuts go too deep. Citing "a deepening of the housing contraction as well as softening in labor markets," the Fed said that while the cumulative cuts "should help to promote moderate growth over time, downside risks to growth remain." (More interest rate cut stories.)