The central bank remains cautious, even as calls for rate cuts grow louder from the White House and other policymakers.

Federal Reserve Governor Chris Waller said on Thursday said he favors cutting the Fed's policy rate in July. He also discussed the Fed's balance sheet and why it should continue to pay interest on bank reserves.

Investors in U.S. stock markets need to stop obsessing about when, and by how much, the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell has sketched out new conditions that could trigger rate cuts by summer’s end, but inflation remains a big question.

The Fed report suggests that a higher prime rate is causing, at least in part, growth in card interest rates. The prime rate remained stable at 7.5% throughout the first quarter. But it is still much higher than it was during the beginning of the 2020s, when it wasn’t uncommon to see the benchmark rate fall between 3.25% and 5.5%.

The average rate on 30-year fixed home loans from Freddie Mac decreased again to 6.77% for the week ending June 26.