The Federal Reserve kept its key lending rate unchanged again, the highest in over two decades on Wednesday.

Policymakers voted unanimously to maintain the U.S. central bank's benchmark interest rate between 5.25% and 5.50%, the Fed announced in a statement following two days of deliberations.

After a small uptick in inflation earlier this year, recent data suggest that the Fed's mission of bringing inflation back down to its long-term target of 2% is now firmly back on track.

Its favored measure of inflation eased to an annual rate of 2.5% last month, while economic growth has remained resilient, and the labor market has come into better balance.

"In recent months, there has been some further progress toward the Committee's 2% inflation objective," the Fed said.

This marks a slight change in tone from its decision in June, when it noted only that "modest further progress" had been made.

"The Committee judges that the risks to achieving its employment and inflation goals continue to move into better balance," the Fed said, adding that it was "attentive to the risks to both sides of its dual mandate."