The Federal Reserve concluded a two-day meeting with no change in policy but a tweak to its economic forecast.

The Fed lowered its unemployment rate forecast slightly for 2013 through 2015—suggesting a bit more strength in the job market—but also skimmed 0.1% to 0.2% off its GDP forecast for the same periods, which suggests slightly slower growth.

As it stands now, the Fed’s so-called “central tendency” for unemployment is 7.3%-7.5% for this year, 6.7%-7% for 2014 and 6%-6.5% for 2015. The unemployment rate is key for future Fed policy since the central bank has said it would maintain its current easy monetary policy until the jobless rate falls below 6.5%

The Fed’s latest GDP forecast is 2.3%-2.8% this year, 2.9%-3.4% next year and 2.9%-3.7% in 2015. The slightly lower GDP forecast could reflect the impact of billions of dollars in federal spending cuts that just started to take effect as part of the sequester that Congress and the White House let stand despite expectations and

By Michael Santoli

There was a time, not long ago, when a strong stock market and rising investor optimism were almost synonymous with a strong belief in the China growth story. This rule is being bent almost to the point of breaking so far in 2013.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index (GSPC) has barely wobbled in the face of Cyprus-driven contagion fears even after logging a 10% year-to-date gain, making the American market the place global investors want to be. The mainland Chinese market, in contrast, has been among the world’s weakest, with the iShares FTSE China 25 exchange-traded fund (FXI) suffering a 10% decline, the magnitude of setback often formally classified as a formal correction.

JPMorgan (JPM) strategists this week piled on by downgrading their view of Chinese stocks, citing the “nasty combination” of a slowing economy and a central bank focused more intently on countering price inflation and suppressing speculation in China’s frothy real-estate market than in stimulating