WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve took no new steps to support the economy Wednesday, but it said in a statement that it was ready to act if job growth did not improve.

The statement, released after a meeting of the Fed’s policy-making committee, said that the rate of economic growth had slowed in recent months and was likely to remain “moderate over coming quarters.” As a result, the Fed said it expected the unemployment rate to decline “only slowly.”

But the central bank deferred any effort to improve the situation at least until the committee’s next scheduled meeting in mid-September.

“The committee will closely monitor incoming information on economic and financial developments and will provide additional accommodation as needed to promote a stronger economic recovery and sustained improvement in labor market conditions in a context of price stability,” it said.