The Federal Reserve said on Jan. 25 that unemployment will likely remain so high over the next three years that the Fed probably will keep interest rates near zero for that period. That is more than a year longer than previously signaled — a significant extension of the central bank’s earlier pledge to take measures to help fuel economic growth. Policymakers project the U.S. unemployment rate to hold steady at 8.5 percent for much of 2012 and fall only to between 6.7 and 7.6 percent by the end of 2014. | Read More