Washington | The Federal Reserve on Wednesday (Thursday AEST) downgraded its economic outlook for the US and warned of consistently high inflation and a worsening job market as it raised interest rates by 0.75 percentage point for a third straight time.

Fed chairman Jerome Powell said policymakers were “strongly committed” to curbing inflation as they pushed the benchmark interest rate to a target range of 3 per cent to 3.25 per cent, their highest point since 2008 and up from near zero at the start of this year.