US central bank policy makers were widely expected to again hold interest rates steady today in hopes the economic reverberations from the war in Iraq would soon die down.
US interest rates already stand at four-decade lows, so analysts said the Federal Reserve has time to wait and see if business and consumer spirits will be lifted enough by the end of war in Iraq to revive sluggish growth.
The focus of attention will be on what policy makers will say in the post-meeting statement - whether they will repeat March's unusual move by saying the situation was too fluid to usefully assess future prospects or return to their traditional "balance of risks" prognosis.
The Fed uses the balance of risks statement to telegraph its feeling on risks to the economy: further weakness, surging prices or an equilibrium between the two.
The Federal Open Market Committee begins meeting at 2 p.m. Irish time to consider interest-rate strategy and is expected to announce a decision around 7 p.m.
US interest rates are already down to 1.25 per cent after being cut a dozen times since the start of 2001 as the Fed tried to spur expansion.
Despite this, another 48,000 jobs vanished in April - the third straight month of declines - bringing job losses to 525,000 in the past three months. There are few signs of a strong growth in employment around the corner.
Much of the recent economic data has been "tainted" by the fact some of it was collected before the war in Iraq began winding down, economists said.
Fed Chairman Mr Alan Greenspan told Congress last week he thought the economy was ready to grow "noticeably" faster during the second half this year but conceded: "The timing and extent of that remains uncertain".