Federal Reserve officials in September were strongly inclined to lower interest rates, with the only dispute seeming to be over how many cuts were coming, meeting minutes released Wednesday showed.
The meeting summary indicated near unanimity among participants at the Federal Open Market Committee that the central bank’s key overnight borrowing rate should be cut due to weakness in the labor market.
They split, however, on whether there should be two or three total reductions this year, including the quarter percentage point move approved at the Sept. 16-17 meeting.
“Almost all respondents to the Desk survey expected a 25 basis point cut in the target range for the federal funds rate at this meeting, and around half expected an additional cut at the October meeting,” the minutes stated. “The vast majority of survey respondents expected at least two 25 basis point cuts by year-end, with around half expecting three cuts over that time.”
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