Fed Says Economy Has Made Progress Toward Its Goals, Teeing Up Bond Taper

The Federal Reserve indicated that the economy has made progress toward the central bank’s employment and inflation goals, and officials offered a hint they could begin to reduce their asset purchases later this year.

The Fed since the end of last year has said its monthly purchases of $120 billion in bonds would continue until the economy achieves “substantial further progress” toward the Fed’s goals of low unemployment and inflation reaching 2%. On Wednesday, the Fed said that “since then, the economy has made progress toward these goals, and the...