But it’s not as if nothing has changed. The Fed made it very clear that it is adjusting its posture. Before it had been looking to ease; now it’s happy where it is, until more information arrives. The shift was evident in the press release. December’s statement said “economic activity has been expanding at a moderate pace”. Yesterday this became: “Economic activity has been expanding at a solid pace.” Similarly the observation that “the unemployment rate has edged up” was replaced with “unemployment rate has shown some signs of stabilisation”. Talk of “the shift in the balance of risks” — towards unemployment and away from inflation — was dropped altogether.