WASHINGTON, June 14 Reuters The Federal Reserve is expected to leave interest rates unchanged on Wednesday for the first time since the U.S. central bank kicked off a historically aggressive round of monetary policy tightening in March of 2022.

But don39;t call it a pivot or a pause.

Policymakers at the end of their twoday meeting may well signal more rate increases are still to come once they take time to assess how the economy is evolving, whether the financial system remains stable, and if inflation is continuing to fall.

We probably need a little more tightening, but it is not clear how much, said Blerina Uruci, chief U.S. economist in the fixed income division at T. Rowe Price Associates, noting that despite strength in recent employment and core inflation reports, a nuanced reading of the data showed both may be set to weaken.

When there is this much uncertainty it makes sense to proceed cautiously, she said.

The Fed is scheduled to release its policy statement and new quarterly economic projections at 2 p.m. EDT 1800 GMT. Fed Chair Jerome Powell will hold a press conference half an hour later.

A sense of caution about the economy competing with ongoing inflation concerns has led the Fed to this point, on the verge of what analysts are calling a hawkish skip.

While likely to forego an increase in borrowing costs after 10 consecutive hikes that have pushed the benchmark overnight interest rate to the current 5.005.25 range, Fed policymakers at the same time…