The Federal Reserve eased its foot off the brake earlier this year.

At a meeting held in late March, Fed chair Jerome Powell announced a rate hike of 0.25 percent point. That move, down from a half-point bump in December and in line with a rate increase in February, signaled a more positive outlook on stubbornly high inflation, but is not expected to be the last increase this year. The Fed will meet again next week to announce what is expected to be another hike.

The Fed lifts rates to raise the cost of borrowing for businesses and shoppers. The goal is to curb borrowing, cool off an overheated economy and fend off inflation spikes. The trick is to moderate inflation without sending the economy into a recession, what economists call a "soft landing."

That goal is under scrutiny as the U.S. and global banking systems watch the fallout from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank last month.

Looking ahead, this is when the Federal Reserve plans to meet for the rest of 2023.

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Housing: With federal reserve interest rates set to rise, how will the housing market be affected?

Federal Reserve 2023 Meeting Schedule

• May 2-3

• June 13-14

• July 25-26

• September 19-20

• Oct/Nov 31-1

• December 12-13

When is the next Fed meeting?

The next Federal Reserve meeting will be held from March 2 to the 3.

Is a 2023 recession coming? Job growth likely to slow sharply, companies brace for impact

What is inflation?: Understanding why prices rise, what causes it and who it hurts most.

How much did the Fed raise interest rates?

At the Fed's last meeting, which was held from March 21 to March 22, interest rates were bumped up 0.25 percentage points. Smaller in size than some previous hikes but on par with one earlier in the year, the move was meant to help wrestle down soaring inflation.

How bad will a recession be? Some economists say it could be worse than we expect and here's why.

Is inflation going down from the Fed's interest rate hikes?

Some evidence suggests that inflation could be on the decline.

U.S. monthly job growth has, for example, fallen from 517,000 in January to 236,000 in March, while average hourly earnings grew 4.2% annually. That rate is historically high but still lower than the previous month's 4.6% year gain and the 5.9% jump a in March of last year.

Perhaps the most widely watched inflation gauge is the consumer price index. It showed that overall prices in March were up 5% from a year earlier, easing from a four-decade high of 9.1% in June.

Economists also indicate that even without big Fed rate increases inflation has slowed as supply-chain bottlenecks ease, commodity prices fall, a strong dollar lowers import costs and retailers offer discounts to unload swollen inventories.

How many times did the Fed raise interest rates in 2022?

Interest rates have been hiked nine times since early last year. Rates had been hovering near zero during the pandemic's economic standstill, and then were raised by 0.25 percentage point starting in March 2022..

Another increase came in May, this time by 0.50 percentage point, followed by 0.75 percentage point hikes for four consecutive meetings. The Fed ended 2022 with a 0.50 percentage point hike before approving two quarter point increases so far this year..

Contributing: Paul Davidson, Elisabeth Buchwald

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fed meeting schedule 2023: A look at this year's calendar