WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve is moving toward raising interest rates from record lows — just not likely yet.

On Wednesday, when it ends its latest policy meeting, Fed officials will issue a statement that will be parsed for clues to just when the first rate increase since 2006 might occur. The meeting will end with a policy statement but no news conference by Chair Janet Yellen.

Though many economists foresee the first hike coming in September, they don’t expect this week’s policy statement to clearly signal the timing. Yellen has stressed that the decision will be driven by the latest economic data. The Fed still wants to keep its options open.

Yet Yellen has left little doubt that the Fed is preparing to raise short-term rates by year’s end from the near-zero lows it set at the depths of the 2008 financial crisis. With the U.S. economy and job market now steadily rising, the need for ultra-low rates to stimulate growth is fading.

“Our economy is in a much better state,” Yellen told Congress earlier this month. “We’re close to where we want to be, and we now think the economy can not only tolerate but needs higher rates.”