The Federal Open Market Committee voted unanimously on July 31 to leave the benchmark rate unchanged in the target range of 5.25% to 5.5%, leaving them at more than a two-decade high for the eighth straight meeting.

“As expected, the Federal Open Market Committee opted to leave interest rates unchanged, as inflation remains somewhat higher than the 2% target rate,” said Michael Schultz, economist at Staffing Industry Analysts. “We continue to expect a change in policy at the September FOMC meeting and believe that first rate cut will help boost business confidence.”

In a statement, the FOMC said it does not expect to reduce the target range for the benchmark rate until it has more confidence that inflation is moving sustainably lower.

Additionally, the FOMC noted that economic activity has expanded at a solid pace while job gains have moderated. It also said the US unemployment rate has moved up, though it still remains low, and agreed that inflation has eased over the past year but remains elevated.

(Bloomberg contributed to this story.)