The Federal Reserve recently announced that it’s cutting interest rates, the first time it’s done so since 2008. Rate cuts generally coincide with some sort of economic weakness, which makes the Fed’s recent decision a bit uncommon.

The last time the Fed began a rate-cut cycle was during the Great Recession. At the time, unemployment had started to tick upwards and there were some major signs that the economy was beginning to fall apart. For example, housing prices had already fallen significantly by the time the Fed made its first move. But the Fed’s recent rate cut comes at a time when the U.S. GDP growth is strong and the stock market is at all-time highs.

Additionally, the unemployment rate in the U.S. sitting at just 3.7% right now, which is extremely low in a historical context. So why did the Federal Reserve cut interest rates this time?

The team from the Motley Fool takes a look at why the US just cut rates and what it means for investors: