The Federal Reserve headquarters in Washington September 16 2015. The Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday and said it was “closely monitoring” global economic and financial developments, but maintained an otherwise upbeat view of the U.S. economy. The central bank’s decision was widely expected after a month-long plunge in U.S. and world equities raised concerns that an abrupt global slowdown could act as a drag on U.S. economic growth. “The committee is closely monitoring global economic and financial developments and is assessing their implications for the labor market and inflation,” the Fed’s policy-setting committee said in a statement that diminished the chances of a rate hike at its next meeting in March. The Fed removed a previous reference from its statement to the risks of the economic outlook being balanced. Instead, the central bank said it was weighing how the global economy and financial markets could affect […]