WASHINGTON, Sept. 17 -- The U.S. Federal Reserve reaffirmed on Wednesday that a highly accommodative stance of monetary policy remains appropriate and it decided to make a further measured reduction in the pace of its asset purchases.

Beginning in October, the Fed will continue to trim its monthly bond purchase program by 10 billion U.S. dollars to 15 billion dollars per month, staying on track to end the program later this year.

"It likely will be appropriate to maintain the current target range for the federal funds rate for a considerable time after the asset purchase program ends," the Fed said in a statement released after a two-day meeting of its Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) , the Fed's chief body for monetary policy.

Before the meeting, the market expected the Fed might reword the "considerable time" language in Wednesday's statement in view of the country's strong economic data over the past few months.

U.S. stocks were rising in mid-afternoon trading on Wednesday after the Fed reaffirmed its pledge to keep interest rates near zero for a "considerable time."

Fed Chair Janet Yellen said at a press conference after the meeting that, economic "outlook hasn't changed that much from June " and that the committee felt "comfortable" with this characterization.

The Fed said "the economic activity is expanding at a moderate pace since July."

Labor market conditions improved somewhat further, but the unemployment rate is little changed, the Fed said, adding that a range of labor market indicators suggests there remains significant underutilization of labor resources, a similar wording to its previous statement released in July.

The central bank also noted household spending "appears to be rising modestly" and business fixed investment "is advancing," while the recovery in the housing sector "remains slow." This wording remained unchanged compared to its previous statement.

Eight out of the current 10 FOMC members voted for Wednesday's decision, while two members were against the action, saying that the action cannot reflect the country's economic progress.

In a separate statement, the Fed expected the average fed funds rate will be 1.38 percent at the end of 2015, compared to June's forecast of 1.13 percent. This suggested the central bank might raise borrowing costs quicker than it had envisioned in June.

According to the central bank's forecast, the U.S. economy will grow about 2.0 percent to 2.2 percent this year, down from its June forecast of 2.1 percent to 2.3 percent. It also lowers its forecast for 2015 GDP growth to 2.6 percent to 3.0 percent from June's estimates of 3.0 percent to 3.2 percent.

On the same day, the FOMC also released principles for a return to normalized monetary policy. The key point is that the changes will be gradual. The central bank planned to raise policy rates when economic conditions and outlook warrant. It will end the reinvestment of assets after its first rate hike, but the timing will depend on economic and financial conditions and economic outlook, said the Fed.

U.S. consumer prices fell for the first time since April 2013 in August, and the unemployment rate edged down to 6.1 percent in August from July's 6.2 percent, with the nonfarm payroll employment up by only 142,000, far below market expectation of above 200,000. The eased inflation pressure and the slack employment data might continue to support the Fed's decision to keep rates low.