Fed Funds Rate History: Its Highs, Lows, and Charts

The Federal Reserve tends to keep the fed funds rate within a 2.0% to 5.0% sweet spot that maintains a healthy economy, but there have been exceptions.

There were times in history when the nation's benchmark rate was increased well above the sweet spot to curb runaway inflation. It's also dipped well below 2% to stimulate economic growth.

Examining the Fed's changes to the fed funds rate provides insight into how the Fed has managed both inflation and recession.

Lowest Fed Funds Rate

The all-time low is effectively zero. The Fed lowered the rate to a range of 0.0% to 0.25% twice. The first was during the financial crisis of 2008, and the Fed didn't resume raising rates until December 2015. 

The second time was in March 2020. In September 2020, the Fed announced it would keep rates in that range until 2023. At the March 2021 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, it said it would keep its target for fed funds rate at a range of 0.0% to 0.25%.

Prior to 2008, the lowest fed funds rate was in the range of 0.75% to 1.0% in 2003. This was a move to combat the 2001 recession. At that time, there were fears that the economy was drifting toward deflation. That's when prices keep falling, convincing buyers to delay purchases to get the lower price.

Highest Fed Funds Rate

The fed funds rate reached a high of 20.0% in 1980 to combat double-digit inflation.

Inflation began to skyrocket starting in March 1973 when President Richard Nixon disengaged the dollar from the gold standard. Inflation increased from 4.7% to 12.3% in December 1974. The Fed increased the fed funds rate from 7.0% in March to 11.0% by August (see tables below).

Inflation continued to remain in the double digits through April 1975. The Fed increased the benchmark rate to 13.0% in July 1974. This worsened the 1973–1975 recession. The Fed reversed course, dramatically lowering the rate to 5.25% by April 1975.

These sudden changes, part of “stop-go” monetary policy, were not sustained enough to either end inflation or spur growth. As a result, confused businesses kept prices high to stay ahead of the Fed's interest rate spikes. That only made inflation worse. Fed leaders learned that managing inflation expectations was a critical factor in controlling inflation itself.

In 1979, Federal Reserve chair Paul Volcker ended the Fed's stop-go policy. He raised rates and kept them there to finally end inflation. That created the 1980 recession but thoroughly ended double-digit inflation. It hasn't been a threat since.

Fed Funds Rate History

The charts below show the targeted fed funds rate changes since 1971. Until October 1979, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) didn't announce its target interest rate after meetings. The Fed adjusted the rate through its open market operations. As a result, banks were forced to guess what the rates would be. The Fed tried to fight inflation without managing the expectations of inflation.

In 1979, the Fed began targeting the money supply to fight inflation. As a result, the fed funds rate fluctuated a great deal between 1979 and 1982. In 1982, the Fed returned to targeting the fed funds rate specifically.

In February 1994, the FOMC formally announced its policy changes for the first time. Since then, its announcements make it clear what it wants the interest rate to be. This manages expectations of inflation and minimizes disruptions caused by surprises from the Fed.

Here are the target fed funds rates along with the event that triggered the change. The Fed typically announces a range for its benchmark rate. The tables below show the high end of the range. The low end is a quarter-point lower.

Fed Chair Arthur Burns (January 1970-March 1978)

In 1971, the GDP was 3.3%, and the unemployment rate was 6.0%. At the same time, inflation was 3.3%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
Jan. 12	4.25%	Expansion
Feb. 9	3.75%
March 9	5.0%	Inflation at 4.7%  year-over-year
July 27	5.5%	Nixon shock; Weakened  gold standard; Tariffs
Aug. 24	5.75%	Wage-price controls
Oct. 19	5.25%	Fed lowered rate to boost growth
Nov. 16	5.0%

In 1972, GDP was 5.3%, unemployment was 5.2%, and inflation was 3.4%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
March 21	5.5%	Nixon devalued dollar, creating inflation
Dec. 19	5.75%	Fed raised rate to combat 3.4% YOY inflation

In 1973, GDP was 5.6%, unemployment was 4.9%, and inflation was 8.7%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
Jan. 16	6.0%	Stagflation
Feb. 13	6.5%
March 20	7.0%
April 17	7.25%	Inflation at 5.1%
May 15	7.75%	Inflation at 5.5%
June 19	8.5%	Inflation at 6.0%
July 17	10.25%	Recession
Aug. 21	11.0%	OPEC embargo worsened inflation in October

In 1974, GDP was -0.5%, unemployment was 7.2%, and inflation was 12.3%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
Feb. 20	9.0%	Recession
March 19	10.0%	Embargo ended in March
April 16	11.0%	Fed raised rates to stop inflation
July 16	13.0%	Inflation at 11.5%, Ford replaced Nixon in August
Nov. 19	9.25%	Recession combined with 12.2% YOY inflation.
Dec. 17	8.0%	Fed lowered rates to end recession.

In 1975, GDP was -0.2%, unemployment was 8.2%, and inflation was 6.9%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
Jan. 21	7.0%
Feb. 19	6.0%	Economy contracted 4.8% in Q1 with inflation at 11.2%
March 18	5.75%	Recession ended
April 15	5.25%	Inflation at 10.2%, Unemployment at 9%
June 17	6.25%	Inflation at 9.4%
Sept. 16	6.5%	Inflation falls to 7.9%

In 1976, GDP was 5.4%, unemployment was 7.8%, and inflation was 4.9%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
Jan. 20	4.75%	Rate lowered from October through January
May 18	5.5%	Raised in April and May
Oct. 19	5.0%	Official  end of gold standard
Nov. 16	4.75%	Lowered from July–November

In 1977, GDP was 4.6%, unemployment was 6.4%, and inflation was 6.7%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
Aug. 16	6.0%	Inflation rises to 7% in April
Sept. 20	6.25%	Inflation at 6.6%
Oct. 18	6.5%	Raised again in September and October

Fed Chair William Miller (March 1978-August 1979)

In 1978, the GDP was 5.5%, unemployment was 6.0%, and inflation was 9.0%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
Jan. 17	6.75%	Inflation rises to 6.8%
April 18	7.0%
May 16	7.5%
June 20	7.75%
Aug. 15	8.0%	Inflation rises to 7.8%
Sept. 19	8.5%
Oct. 17	9.0%	Inflation at 8.9%
Nov. 21	9.75%
Dec. 19	10.0%	Raised each month from April through December

Fed Chair Paul Volcker (August 1979-August 1987)

In 1979, GDP was 3.2%, unemployment was 6.0%, and inflation was 13.3%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
April 17	10.25%	Inflation at 10.5%
July 11	10.5%
Aug. 14	11.0%
Sept. 18	11.5%	Inflation rises to 12.2%
Oct. 6	13.0%	The Fed began targeting the money supply
Oct. 22	15.5%	Conference call raised rates 2.5 points
Nov. 20	14.0%	Inflation at 12.6%

In 1980, GDP was -0.3%, unemployment was 7.2%, and inflation was 12.5%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
Feb. 15	15.0%	Recession began in January, Inflation at 14.2%
March 18	20.0%
May 20	11.5%	Conference calls on April 29 and May 6 lowered rates
June 5	8.5%	Recession ends in July
Aug. 7	10.0%	Raised rates back up, Inflation at 12.9%
Sept. 16	11.0%
Oct. 21	12.0%
Nov. 21	18.0%	Inflation eases to 12.6%
Dec. 5	20.0%	Conference call
Dec. 29	18.0%	Lowered two points

In 1981, GDP was 2.5%, unemployment was 8.5%, and inflation was 8.9%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
Feb. 3	20.0%	Reagan took office; Volcker raised rates again
April 28	16.0%	Conference call lowered rates
May 18	20.0%	Recession began in July
Nov. 17	13.0%	Gradually lowered rates over 6 months
Dec. 22	12.0%	Inflation at 8.9%

In 1982, GDP was -1.8%, unemployment was 10.8%, and inflation was 3.8%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
March 30	15.0%	Gradually raised rates 3 points over 4 months
July 15	13.0%	Conference call; Gradually lowered rates
Aug. 24	9.5%	Gradually lowered rates
Nov. 16	9.0%	Recession ends
Dec. 21	8.5%	Inflation at 3.8%

In 1983, GDP was 4.6%, unemployment was 8.3%, and inflation was 3.8%.

Date	Fed Funds rate	Event
May 24	9.5%	Gradually raised rates over 5 months
Aug. 23	9.75%	Raised from May to August
Oct. 4	9.5%	Lowered from August to October

In 1984, GDP was 7.2%, unemployment was 7.3%, and inflation was 3.9%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
March 27	10.5%	Raised rates again
July 17	11.5%.
Aug. 21	11.75%	Raised from March to August
Oct. 2	10%	Began lowering again
Nov. 7	9.5%
Dec. 18	8.25%	Lowered from September to December

In 1985, GDP was 4.2%, unemployment was 7.0%, and inflation was 3.8%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
March 26	9.0%	Raised from February to mid-March
May 21	7.75%	Began lowering again
Aug. 20	8.0%	Raised again
Dec. 17	7.75%	Lowered again

In 1986, GDP was 3.5%, unemployment was 6.6%, and inflation was 1.1%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
April 1	6.75%	Continued lowering rates
Aug. 19	5.75%	Lowered until August
Dec. 16	6.0%	Began raising rates again

Fed Chair Alan Greenspan (August 1987-January 2006)

In 1987, GDP was 3.5%, unemployment was 5.7%, and inflation was 4.4%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
May 19	6.75%	Continued raising rates to fight inflation
Sept. 22	7.25%
Oct. 30	6.75%	Lowered after  Black Monday stock market crash

In 1988, GDP was 4.2%, unemployment was 5.3%, and inflation was 4.4%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
Feb. 10	6.5%	Continued lowering
March 29	7.5%	Began raising to fight inflation
Aug. 16	8.25%
Dec. 14	9.75%

In 1989, GDP was 3.7%, unemployment was 5.4%, and inflation was 4.6%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
Dec. 19	8.25%	S&L crisis, Fed lowered rates to calm markets

In 1990, GDP was 1.9%, unemployment was 6.3%, and inflation was 6.1%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
July 13	8.0%	Recession began in July
Oct. 29	7.75%	Continued lowering rates to boost economy despite inflation
Nov. 14	7.5%
Dec. 7	7.25%	Conference call
Dec. 18	7.0%	Economy contracted 3.6% in Q4

In 1991, GDP was -0.1%, unemployment was 7.3%, and inflation was 3.1%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
Jan. 9	6.75%	Economy contracted 1.9%
Feb. 1	6.25%
March 8	6.0%	Recession ended
April 30	5.75%	Conference call
Aug. 6	5.5%
Sept. 13	5.25%	Conference call
Oct. 31	5.0%	Conference call
Nov. 6	4.75%	Fed continued lowering rates to fight unemployment
Dec. 6	4.5%
Dec. 20	4.0%

In 1992, GDP was 3.5%, unemployment was 7.4%, and inflation was 2.9%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
April 9	3.75%	Fed lowered rates to fight unemployment
July 2	3.25%
Sept. 4	3.0%

In 1993, GDP was 2.8%, unemployment was 6.5%, and inflation was 2.7%. 

Clinton took office in 1993. The Fed made no changes.

In 1994, GDP was 4.0%, unemployment was 5.5%, and inflation was 2.7%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
Feb. 4	3.25%	Fed raised rates to keep economy healthy
March 22	3.5%
April 18	3.75%	Conference call
May 17	4.25%
Aug. 16	4.75%
Nov. 15	5.5%	Raised rates

In 1995, GDP was 2.7%, unemployment was 5.6%, and inflation was 2.5%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
Feb. 1	6.0%	Raised rates
July 6	5.75%	Lowered rates
Dec. 19	5.5%

In 1996, GDP was 3.8%, unemployment was 5.4%, and inflation was 3.3%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
Jan. 31	5.25%	Kept rates low despite inflation

In 1997, GDP was 4.4%, unemployment was 4.7%, and inflation was 1.7%. 

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
March 25	5.5%	Raised rates despite low inflation

In 1998, GDP was 4.5%, unemployment was 4.4%, and inflation was 1.6%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Date
Sept. 29	5.25%	Lowered rates to fight  LTCM crisis
Oct. 15	5.0%
Nov. 17	4.75%

In 1999, GDP was 4.8%, unemployment was 4.0%, and inflation was 2.7%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
June 30	5.0%	Raised rates because economy was doing well
Aug. 24	5.25%
Nov. 16	5.5%

In 2000, GDP was 4.1%, unemployment was 3.9%, and inflation was 3.4%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
Feb. 2	5.75%
March 21	6.0%
May 16	6.5%	Raised rates despite stock market drop

In 2001, GDP was 1.0%, unemployment was 5.7%, and inflation was 1.6%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
Jan. 3	6.0%
Jan. 31	5.5%	Bush took office
March 20	5.0%	Recession
April 18	4.5%
May 15	4.0%
June 27	3.75%	EGTTRA tax rebate enacted
Aug. 21	3.5%
Sept. 17	3.0%	9/11 attacks
Oct. 2	2.5%	Afghanistan War
Nov. 6	2.0%	Recession ended
Dec. 11	1.75%

In 2002, GDP was 1.7%, unemployment was 6.0%, and inflation was 2.4%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
Nov. 6	1.25%	Fed lowered rates to fight sluggish growth

In 2003, GDP was 2.9%, unemployment was 5.7%, and inflation was 1.9%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
June 25	1.0%	JGTRRA tax cuts enacted to spur growth.

In 2004, GDP was 3.8%, unemployment was 5.4%, and inflation was 3.3%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
June 30	1.25%	Low rates pushed  interest-only loans
Aug. 10	1.5%
Sept. 21	1.75%
Nov. 10	2.0%
Dec. 14	2.25%

In 2005, GDP was 3.5%, unemployment was 4.9%, and inflation was 3.4%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
Feb. 2	2.5%
March 22	2.75%
May 3	3.0%
June 30	3.25%
Aug. 9	3.5%
Sept. 20	3.75%
Nov. 1	4.0%
Dec. 13	4.25%

Fed Chair Ben Bernanke (February 2006-January 2014)

In 2006, GDP was 2.9%, unemployment was 4.4%, and inflation was 2.5%. 

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
Jan. 31	4.5%	Raised to cool housing market bubble
March 28	4.75%	Higher rates caused more mortgage defaults
May 10	5.0%
June 29	5.25%

In 2007, GDP was 1.9%, unemployment was 5.0%, and inflation was 4.1%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
Sept. 18	4.75%	Home sales fell
Oct. 31	4.5%
Dec. 11	4.25%	LIBOR rose; Stock market peaked; Recession began

In 2008, GDP was -0.1%, unemployment was 7.3%, and inflation was 0.1%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
Jan. 22	3.5%
Jan. 30	3.0%	Tax rebate
March 18	2.25%	Bear Stearns bailout
April 30	2.0%
Oct. 8	1.5%	Lehman fails;  Bank bailout approved
Oct. 29	1.0%	AIG bailout
Dec. 16	0.25%	Effectively zero

Fed Chair Janet Yellen (February 2014-February 2018)

In 2015, GDP was 3.1%, unemployment was 5.0%, and inflation was 0.7%. 

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
Dec. 17	0.5%	Growth stabilized, so Fed began raising rates

In 2016, GDP was 1.7%, unemployment was 4.7%, and inflation was 2.1%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
Dec. 15	0.75%	Fed maintained steady increase in rates

In 2017, GDP was 2.3%, unemployment was 4.1%, and inflation was 2.1%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
March 16	1.0%	Continued raising rates
June 15	1.25%
Dec. 14	1.5%

Fed Chair Jerome Powell (Since February 2018)

In 2018, GDP was 3.0%, unemployment was 3.9%, inflation was 1.9%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
March 22	1.75%
June 14	2.0%
Sept. 27	2.25%
Dec. 20	2.5%	Fed promised to stop raising rates

In 2019, GDP was 2.2%, unemployment was 3.5%, and inflation was 2.3%.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
Aug. 1	2.25%	Lowered rates despite growth
Sept. 19	2.0%	Fed was concerned about slowing growth
Oct. 31	1.75%	Slow global growth and muted inflation

In 2020, the GDP decreased 3.5% and inflation was 1.2%. Unemployment numbers for the year haven't been released.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
March 3	1.25%	Coronavirus pandemic
March 15	0.25%	Effectively zero
April 29	0.25%	Effectively zero
June 10	0.25%	Effectively zero
July 29	0.25%	Effectively zero
Sept. 16	0.25%	Effectively zero
Nov. 5	0.25%	Effectively zero
Dec. 16	0.25%	Effectively zero

Here are the results of 2021's meetings.

Date	Fed Funds Rate	Event
Jan. 27	0.25%	Effectively zero
March 17	0.25%	Effectively zero