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The U.S. economy started the year “expanding at a modest to moderate pace,” and transportation and trucking activity were mixed as tonnage increased, the Federal Reserve said.

The Federal Reserve Wednesday said it was holding a key interest rate at a record low as “economic activity paused in recent months.”

Manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia region contracted this month, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said Thursday.

Federal Reserve officials boosted their projections for 2013-2014 economic growth and said they would begin a third round of asset purchases to spur the U.S. economy, Bloomberg reported.

The Federal Reserve will expand its program to replace short-term bonds with longer-term debt by $267 billion through the end of the year in a bid to reduce unemployment and protect the economy’s expansion, Bloomberg reported.

The Federal Reserve said Wednesday it “expects economic growth to remain moderate over coming quarters and then to pick up gradually.”

The Federal Reserve said Wednesday it was not likely to raise the record low key interest rate until at least 2014.

The Federal Reserve Wednesday trimmed its economic outlook, while holding a key interest rate at the record low rate it’s been at since December 2008.

Economic activity improved slightly in September into early October, with modest gains in manufacturing and transportation activity, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday.