FOMC · October 28, 2026
The Fed held rates. Two members wanted another hike.
No change to the target. A 10–2 vote, with both dissenters preferring a quarter-point increase.
Decision October 28, 2026
The Federal Open Market Committee voted 10–2 on October 28, 2026 to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 3¾ to 4 percent, where it has been since the September hike. Lisa D. Cook and Beth M. Hammack voted against, preferring to raise the range by one-quarter percentage point. The statement again says inflation “remains elevated” and that the Committee “will deliver price stability.” Read the FOMC statement.
That overnight rate is what banks pay each other. You do not. Your bills move through three different pipes: credit cards (usually fast), savings (often fast), and 30-year mortgages (priced off longer-term yields, which can jump weeks before the vote).
The mortgage that already moved
Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey for the week of October 22, 2026 put the 30-year fixed average at 7.32%, versus 7.40% the week before and 6.19% a year earlier. That survey window can include days after the meeting and days before it. Treat the weekly jump as the market’s week, not as “the Fed rewrote your note at 2 p.m.”
On a $320,000 30-year loan, principal and interest at 7.32% is about $2,198 a month. At the prior week’s 7.40%, it was about $2,216. Difference: −$17 a month, taxes and insurance not included. Run your own balance in the mortgage calculator.
Cards and savings
A hold does not by itself reprice prime. Your card APR still moves if the issuer already had a change in the pipeline, or if you leave an intro rate. Check the statement. The payoff calculator uses whatever APR you type.
High-yield savings rates are set by banks. Many follow the funds rate with a lag, and some do not. The Fed pays banks 3.90% on reserve balances, effective October 29, 2026, per the implementation note. That is a floor for what a bank can earn parked at the Fed. It is not a promise about your savings APY.
What the statement actually said
- Economic activity is expanding at a strong pace.
- While uncertainty remains elevated owing, in part, to geopolitical developments, domestic spending has been resilient.
- Inflation remains elevated.
- The accumulation of more information will help the Committee determine the policy stance appropriate to ensure a timely return of inflation to the Committee's 2 percent goal.
Those lines are description, not a forecast of the next vote. Next scheduled meeting after this one: December 8–9, 2026.
This desk does not forecast the next vote. We translate the last one.
Sources: FOMC statement, October 28, 2026; Fed implementation note, October 28, 2026; Freddie Mac PMMS, week of October 22, 2026.