Fed Minutes Show Officials Saw More Work to Do to Quell Inflation

Federal Reserve officials overwhelmingly concluded that they had more work to do to quell inflation after raising interest rates at their September meeting, according to minutes from the meeting released on Wednesday.Last month, the Fed voted to raise rates by a quarter of a percentage point to a range of 3.75 to 4 percent.It was the first increase since July 2023 and was supported by all 12 members of the policy-setting committee.Projections released alongside the Fed’s rate decision showed that 16 of the 18 policymakers who submitted rate estimates expected at least one more quarter-point move by the end of the year.

That would push rates to a range of 4 to 4.25 percent.Most wanted rates to stay at or above that level throughout 2027.

Officials also raised their estimates for rates for 2028 and beyond compared with three months ago.According to the minutes, many officials assessed that higher rates would be “prudent on risk-management grounds, providing insurance against inflation remaining persistently above target due to stronger-than-expected demand or further adverse supply shocks.” Others suggested that raising rates was necessary based solely on the current outlook for price pressures.Some also suggested that raising rates would guard against the public’s losing confidence that inflation, which has overshot the Fed’s 2 percent target for nearly six years, would eventually ease.Moreover, several participants said they did not view the Fed’s previous policy settings as either “restrictive or only mildly restrictive,” suggesting that higher rates were necessary to slow down demand sufficiently and get inflation under control.At a news conference after the rate decision, Kevin M.

Warsh, the Fed chairman, described the increase as the central bank’s attempt to remove a “dose of accommodation so that financial and credit conditions would be more consistent with our ultimate objectives.” Mr.Warsh stopped short of affirming whether Septembe...