Consumers and traders are waiting to learn if the Fed’s pause is a one-meeting hold or the start of a longer stretch.

Policymakers left their benchmark rate unchanged amid signs that the economy is humming along, defying the president’s tradition-bucking pressure on the central bank.

After three cuts at the end of last year, Federal Reserve officials paused rate moves as they weigh a solid economy and rising inflation risks. Jerome H. Powell, the Fed chair, said the central bank was not on a “pre-set course.