How the FOMC Works: Meetings and Rate Decisions

The committee has twelve voting members: the seven members of the Board of Governors, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and four of the other Reserve Bank presidents, who serve in rotation. The remaining Reserve Bank presidents attend and take part in the discussion without a vote.

The FOMC holds eight regularly scheduled meetings a year and can call others. After each meeting the Board publishes a statement that announces the decision. Minutes of the meeting follow about three weeks later. The Summary of Economic Projections, which includes the dot plot, comes out after some meetings.

This paper stores each published statement word for word and marks which words changed from the one before it. It reports what the statement says and does not predict the next one.

The main decision is the target range for the federal funds rate. The committee also gives directions to the trading desk at the New York Fed on how to manage the securities portfolio, which is where quantitative tightening is set. Each decision is recorded with the names of the members who voted for and against it, in the Board's published materials.