Fed will announce rate decisions at seven meetings in 2027, with October set aside for strategy

The Federal Reserve will announce interest-rate decisions at seven meetings in 2027 instead of the usual eight, according to a revised schedule it published on Thursday, November 12, 2026. The October 26–27 meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the group that sets US interest rates, will be used to discuss "broad monetary policy strategy issues" and will not end with a policy decision, the Fed said.

What the revised FOMC schedule says

The committee "will announce its policy decision as usual on the second day of each meeting, except the October 26-27 meeting," the Fed said. The 2027 meetings are listed for January 26–27, March 16–17, April 27–28, June 8–9, July 27–28, September 14–15, October 26–27 and November 16–17, each a Tuesday and Wednesday.

The October session will have no formal vote and no statement afterward, CNBC reported. The Fed holds eight voting meetings in 2026, according to CNBC.

Why the Fed is changing the schedule

Fed Chair Kevin Warsh announced the change at his news conference after the October meeting, without saying which meeting would be affected, according to CNBC. He described it as part of a plan to streamline the central bank's communication.

Warsh said then that "it's equally important we reserve time and space, as an intellectually diverse group, for strategic deliberations," as quoted by CNBC. He also indicated that the number of meetings without a vote would rise to two in 2028, the outlet reported. Thursday's release from the Fed does not mention 2028 beyond the January meeting date.

What it could mean for traders

Scheduled FOMC decisions are among the dates that interest-rate, currency and stock traders plan around. In our assessment, the practical effect in 2027 is longer gaps late in the year: nine weeks between the September 15 and November 17 decisions, and 10 weeks between November 17 and the next listed meeting, which ends on January 26, 2028. Economic data released in those gaps would have no scheduled decision to feed into for longer than traders are used to.

The change does not say anything about the direction of rates. The next FOMC meeting is on December 8–9, 2026, according to the Fed's meeting calendar; this week a Fed governor leaned toward a rate increase at that meeting after October's inflation data.