Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The Federal Reserve will meet this week to decide whether or not to lower its benchmark interest rate.
The expectation is they will decide to lower the rate again, but it's not clear what sort of impact it will have on the economy.
"It looks like there will be a quarter of a percentage point deduction," said Money Analyst Jill Schlesinger from "Jill on Money" with WBEN on Monday.
That would be a third-consecutive rate cut that is likely to come with more opposition than the previous cuts we've seen this year. The Fed has already lowered its benchmark by 1.5% over the last year.
But what does it mean for the average American? If you have credit card debt, there's a little relief.
"We still have credit card rates that are above 20%," Schlesinger said. "You might see some help when you go out and buy a car, but again, there's two parts to the equation: One is the price of the car."
High prices still are taking a bite out of every day consumers.
"Overall, price levels are still high, even if interest rates come down it doesn't make you feel that much better. That's the housing story as well," Schlesinger added. "You might see that mortgage rates are down from 8% to 6.2% which is great, but if the price of the house is still 50% more than it was five years ago it makes owning that house really hard for the vast majority of Americans."
The Fed will announce the decision on rates after its meeting on Wednesday.