The Federal Reserve announced it was raising its key rate by another 0.75 percentage points, lifting the target range to between 3% and 3.25%.
Borrowing costs are expected to climb more - and remain high, the bank said.
The move comes despite mounting concern that the cost of controlling inflation could be a harsh economic downturn.
Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell said the rate rises were necessary to slow demand, easing the pressures putting up prices and avoiding long-term damage to the economy. But he conceded that they will take a toll.
"We have got to get inflation behind us," he said. "I wish there were a painless way to do that. There isn't."
Banks in nearly every country - with the big exceptions of Japan and China - are facing similar trade-offs as they raise rates to combat their own inflation problems.