US Fed to hike rate

The US Federal Reserve this week will raise the key interest rate for the second time in 2018, working to stay one step ahead of inflation. A hiring spree in May helped drive the unemployment rate down to levels eerily similar to those recorded almost 50 years ago -- just before an era of high inflation and economic pain that many Americans still recall with a shudder.

It took years of high lending rates for the Fed to rein in prices and see growth restored in the world's largest economy, and the central bank since has been focused on avoiding a repeat.