The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday, Nov. 2, edition that the U.S. Federal Reserve kept its key short-term interest rate unchanged Wednesday for a second straight time but left the door open to further rate hikes if inflation pressures should accelerate in the months ahead. An Associated Press dispatch to The Globe reports that the Fed said it would keep its benchmark rate at about 5.4 per cent, its highest level in 22 years. Since launching the most aggressive series of rate hikes in four decades in March, 2022, to fight inflation, the Fed has pulled back and has now raised rates only once since May. The latest statement noted that recent tumult in the financial markets has sent longer-term interest rates up to near 16-year highs and contributed to higher borrowing rates across the economy. "Tighter financial and credit conditions for households and businesses," it said, "are likely to weigh on economic activity." That reference echoed recent comments by Fed officials that higher yields -- or interest rates -- on the 10-year Treasury note could impose a dampening impact on the economy, cool inflation and substitute for an additional rate hike by the Fed.