Federal Reserve hikes interest rate, signifying confidence in improving US economy

WASHINGTON — We officially have a Federal Reserve rate hike, the second increase in more than 10 years. Fed officials ended their final meeting of 2016 by raising the federal funds rate — what banks charge each other for short-term loans — to a range of 0.50 percent to 0.75 percent. The Fed previously increased rates at the December 2015 meeting from a near-zero level, an unprecedented low that was set in 2008 amid the fallout from the housing bust […]