The expected "terminal rate," or point where officials expect to end the rate hikes, was put at 5.1%, according to the FOMC's "dot plot" of individual members' expectations.The new level marks the highest the fed funds rate has been since December 2007, just ahead of the global financial crisis and as the Fed was loosening policy aggressively to combat what would turn into the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.That is followed by another percentage point of cuts in 2025 to a rate of 3.1%, before the benchmark settles into a longer-run neutral level of 2.5%.Nonfarm payrolls grew by a faster-than-expected 263,000 in November, while the Atlanta Fed is tracking GDP growth of 3.2% for the fourth quarter.Inflation came about from a convergence of at least three factors: Outsized demand for goods during the pandemic that created severe supply chain issues, Russia's invasion of Ukraine that coincided with a spike in energy prices, and trillions in monetary and fiscal stimulus that created a glut of dollars looking for a place to go."