A comparison of the Federal Reserve's statements from its two-day meeting that ended Wednesday and its meeting June 17-18:

JOB MARKET:

Now: The Fed sees a better job market, but has added new qualifications: "Labor market conditions improved, with the unemployment rate declining further. However, a range of labor market indicators suggests that there remains significant underutilization of labor resources."

Then: "Labor market indicators generally showed further improvement. The unemployment rate, though lower, remains elevated."

INFLATION:

Now: Fed policymakers acknowledge that inflation has reached its 2 percent objective: The Fed "judges that the likelihood of inflation running persistently below 2 percent has diminished somewhat."

Then: The Fed "recognizes that inflation persistently below its 2 percent objective could pose risks to economic performance, and it is monitoring inflation developments carefully for evidence that inflation will move back toward its objective over the medium term."

- The Associated Press