The central bank’s decision to pause at its first meeting of 2025 followed a series of cuts that began in September to account for progress already made on getting inflation down. Over the course of three meetings, the Fed lowered rates by a full percentage point to a range of 4.25 percent to 4.5 percent, which was maintained on Wednesday.

The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged Wednesday as it began a new wait-and-see policy stance amid a cloudy economic outlook and uncertainty over whether some of President Donald Trump’s policies could stymie the fight against inflation.