WASHINGTON — With the economy strengthening but still fragile, Federal Reserve policymakers are expected to hold a key lending rate at a record low this week and will weigh whether to extend some programs that were created to ease the financial crisis.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues also are likely to signal that while the recession is winding down, the pain isn't over. Though the unemployment rate dipped to 9.4 percent in July — its first drop in 15 months — economists predict it could still top 10 percent this year.

To try to stimulate economic activity, Fed policymakers are all but certain to keep the target range for its bank lending rate between zero and 0.25 percent at the end of their two-day meeting Wednesday.

GM CAR BUYERS CAN BARGAIN ONLINE

SAN FRANCISCO — General Motors and eBay Inc. are expected to announce today that hundreds of the auto- maker's California dealers will let customers haggle over the prices of new cars and trucks through the online marketplace, as part of a previously disclosed trial.

About 225 of California's 250 GM dealers are set to take part in the program, which begins tomorrow. The vehicles will be sold on cobranded Web sites through eBay's online auto marketplace, eBay Motors, until Sept. 8. The trial, part of GM's turnaround plan, marks a shift for eBay, since most of the vehicles sold on the site are used.