Fed lowers growth, inflation forecasts

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday trimmed its growth forecast for 2013 slightly and slashed its inflation outlook, suggesting it saw little threat to prices from its ongoing easy-money program.

The economy was expected to grow at an annual rate of 2.3-2.6 percent, slightly below the 2.8 percent top-end growth previously forecast. The Fed projected inflation would come in between 0.8-1.2 percent in 2013, instead of 1.3-1.7 percent seen in March.