for the first time since 2006. It's a momentus decision as the rate has been

at unprecedented low levels since the global financial crisis.

For more,... let's connect to our Shin Se-min who is standing by at our new center.

Se-min.

Good morning, Mark. After seven years of rock-bottom rates,…

at last there is liftoff. It was widely expected,... but the Fed announced

within the last two hours or so that it will increase its benchmark rate by one-quarter

of a percentage point. Shortly after the announcement,... Fed chair

Janet Yellen gave a press conference,... laying out the reasons behind the decision.

"The committee judged that a modest increase in the fed funds rate target is now appropriate,…

recognizing that even after this increase, monetary policy remains accommodative.

And it reflects committee's confidence that the economy will continue to strengthen."

The Federal Open Market Committee judged that the U.S. economy and the labor market is healthy

enough to begin the process of normalizing rates,… recovering from the worst financial

crisis since the Great Depression. The U.S. central bank has kept its benchmark

rate near zero since December 2008,… as a show of effort to stimulate the economy

and restore confidence in the financial markets. The U.S. labor market recently added 211-thousand

jobs in November and there's confidence inflation is starting to climb to the Fed's target rate

of two-percent.

And how is Wall Street reacting to the news?

Well,... minutes after the announcement, U.S. stocks have jumped with the Dow Jones industrial

average going up some 60-points, or point-three percent and the S&P 500 index going up half-a-percent

higher. As of a few minutes ago,... the Dow was up

255 points or one-point-two percent and the S&P was up one-point-four percent.

In the coming few hours we will see how Korea's stock market and other Asian markets will

react...

This is going to be a "gradual" increase. How are analysts expecting this to unfold

over the coming months and years?

The Fed's policy makers say they expect the short-term rate to stand at around one-point-five

percent by the end of 2016. They forecast that number to increase to two-point-five

percent by the end of 2017,… and will not get close to normal levels of around 3.5%

until 2018 Now that comes on the back of expectations

that the economy will improve,… growing two-point-four percent next year, with the

unemployment rate falling to the four percent range.