Federal Reserve officials left interest rates near zero on Wednesday and pledged to continue making huge bond purchases as the central bank tries to help the economy weather the continuing pandemic, warning that a surge in the coronavirus has slowed progress toward a full rebound.“The pace of the recovery in economic activity and employment has moderated in recent months, with weakness concentrated in the sectors most adversely affected by the pandemic,” the central bank’s policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee said in its January policy statement.The Fed chair, Jerome H. Powell, said at a news conference on Wednesday …
