Top CDs Today, April 15, 2024 - Leading 18-Month Rate Rises Again (2024)

Where Are CD Rates Headed in 2024?

To combat decades-high inflation, the Federal Reserve aggressively hiked the federal funds rate between March 2022 and July 2023, raising the benchmark rate to its highest level in 22 years. That's important to savers because when the fed funds rate rises, banks and credit unions increase the interest rates they're willing to pay on customer deposits.

As a result, this past fall saw historically favorable conditions for CD shoppers, as well as for anyone holding cash in ahigh-yield savingsormoney market account. Rates on CDs rose to an October-November peak that was the highest we've seen in two decades.

But since its last rate hike in July, the Fed has been in a holding pattern. On March 20, the central bank announced it would maintain the fed fund rate at its current level, the fifth meeting in a row it's done so.

That's because inflation has been cooling, allowing the Fed to stop raising interest rates. But further inflation progress has been elusive, putting the central bank in wait-and-see mode as it looks for evidence that inflation is falling enough to justify lowering the federal funds rate. Reiterating the Fed's recent meeting statement, Fed Chair Jerome Powell spoke last week about how the first rate cut could still be a ways off.

"We do not expect that it will be appropriate to lower our policy rate until we have greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably down toward 2 percent. Given the strength of the economy and progress on inflation so far, we have time to let the incoming data guide our decisions on policy," Powell said in prepared remarks.

Unfortunately for those anxious for rate cuts, last week's release of new inflation data did not help the outlook. The March Consumer Price Index came in at 3.5%, which is 0.3 percentage points higher than February and 0.4 higher than January. In fact, it's the highest inflation reading since September, moving in the wrong direction to trigger Fed rate decreases.

At its March 20 meeting, the median prediction from members of the Fed's rate-setting committee was for three rate reductions this year. But confidence in that prediction is waning as new data comes to light. According to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool, less than 25% of traders currently predict we'll see three cuts by the end of 2024.

Still, it's a reasonable prediction that the Fed will find it appropriate to lower its benchmark rate sometime this year, if not three times. But Fed moves several months into the future are unpredictable, and until more data comes in, it's impossible to say if any 2024 rate cuts will come to fruition.

As a result, CD rates could continue their current plateau. If at some point it becomes clear the Fed is ready to make a first rate cut, that would drive CD rates down more quickly. But it appears that could be months away.

The central bank will hold six more rate-setting meetings in 2024, with the next one scheduled for April 30 through May 1.

How We Find the Best CD Rates

Every business day, Investopedia tracks the rate data of more than 200 banks and credit unions that offer CDs to customers nationwide and determines daily rankings of the top-paying certificates in every major term. To qualify for our lists, the institution must be federally insured (FDIC for banks, NCUA for credit unions), and the CD's minimum initial deposit must not exceed $25,000.

Banks must be available in at least 40 states. And while some credit unions require you to donate to a specific charity or association to become a member if you don't meet other eligibility criteria (e.g., you don't live in a certain area or work in a certain kind of job), we exclude credit unions whose donation requirement is $40 or more. For more about how we choose the best rates, read our full methodology.