The Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged Tuesday for the fourth straight time as worries about inflation continued to trump concerns about the slowing economy. At its final meeting of 2006, the central bank left its target for the federal funds rate at 5.25%. The funds rate, the interest that banks charge each other, has been at that level since June, when the Fed raised rates for the 17th consecutive time in a two-year effort to combat rising inflation.
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