Chart 5: The Fed Funds Rate Has Spiked in Multiple Periods Over the Past 55 Years

A line graph that shows fluctuations in the Federal Reserve funds rate between 1955 and 2009. The Fed funds rate has spiked by multiple percentage points several times in that period, including sharp increases and decreases in the periods 1970-71, 1973-75, 1979-83, 1989-90, and 2005-08. The sharpest point of fluctuation occurred in the period 1979-83, when the funds rate fluctuated between 9 percent and 18 percent. The source of this information is the Federal Reserve.