{"id":481552,"date":"2025-12-31T04:14:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T04:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/481552\/"},"modified":"2025-12-31T04:14:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T04:14:09","slug":"fed-officials-showed-deep-divisions-at-december-meeting-minutes-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/481552\/","title":{"rendered":"Fed officials showed deep divisions at December meeting, minutes show"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul data-testid=\"Summary\" class=\"summary-module__summary__QjADA\">\n<li data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf summary-module__point__UgXPz\">Minutes covered December 9-10 meeting<\/li>\n<li data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf summary-module__point__UgXPz\">Most policymakers supported rate cut amid broad debate<\/li>\n<li data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf summary-module__point__UgXPz\">Some rate cut supporters noted &#8220;finely balanced&#8221; decision<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Dec 30 (Reuters) &#8211; The U.S. Federal Reserve agreed to cut interest rates at its December meeting only after a deeply nuanced debate about the risks facing the U.S. economy right now, according to minutes of the latest two-day session.<\/p>\n<p>Even some of those who supported the rate cut acknowledged &#8220;the decision was finely balanced or that they could have supported keeping the target range unchanged,&#8221; given the different risks facing the U.S. economy, according to the minutes released on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"promo-box\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf article-body-module__promo-box__hVl8h\"> Sign up  <a data-testid=\"Link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/final-fed-minutes-2025-shed-light-policy-divisions-2025-12-30\/undefined?location=article-paragraph&amp;redirectUrl=%2Fbusiness%2Ffinal-fed-minutes-2025-shed-light-policy-divisions-2025-12-30%2F\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__inherit-color__PhuPF text-module__inherit-font__1P1hv text-module__inherit-size__EyiQW link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In economic projections released after the December 9-10 meeting, six officials outright opposed a cut and two of that group dissented as voting members of the Federal Open Market Committee.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Most participants&#8221; ultimately supported a cut, with &#8220;some&#8221; arguing that it was an appropriate forward-looking strategy &#8220;that would help stabilize the labor market&#8221; after a recent slowdown in job creation.<\/p>\n<p>Others, however, &#8220;expressed concern that progress towards the committee&#8217;s 2% inflation objective had stalled.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Some participants suggested that, under their economic outlooks, it would likely be appropriate to keep the target range unchanged for some time after a lowering of the range at this meeting,&#8221; the minutes said of a debate that saw officials dissent both in favor of tighter and looser monetary policy, an unusual outcome for the central bank that has now happened at two consecutive meetings.<\/p>\n<p>The quarter-point rate cut approved in December lowered the Fed&#8217;s benchmark overnight interest rate to a range of between 3.5% to 3.75%, the third consecutive move by the central bank as officials agreed that a slowdown in monthly job creation and rising unemployment warranted slightly less restrictive monetary policy.<\/p>\n<p>But as rates fell, and approached a neutral level that neither discourages nor encourages investment and spending, opinion at the Fed became more divided about just how much more to cut. New projections issued after the December meeting show only one rate cut expected next year, while language in the new policy statement indicated the Fed would likely remain on hold for now until new data shows that either inflation is again falling or unemployment is rising more than anticipated.<\/p>\n<p>The lack of official data during the 43-day government shutdown, a gap in information still not fully filled, continued to shape the outlook and policymakers&#8217; views about how to manage risk.<\/p>\n<p>Some of those either opposed or skeptical of the most recent cut &#8220;suggested that the arrival of a considerable amount of labor market and inflation data over the coming intermeeting period would be helpful on making judgments about whether a rate reduction was warranted.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The data catch-up continues, with jobs and consumer price information for December coming on January 9 and January 13, back to the normal release schedule.<\/p>\n<p>The Fed next meets on January 27-28, with investors currently expecting the central bank to leave its benchmark rate unchanged.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"SignOff\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__extra_small__8Buss body-module__full_width__kCIGb body-module__extra_small_body__Bfz20 sign-off-module__text__LQAMP\">Reporting by Howard Schneider; Editing by Andrea Ricci<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Body\" dir=\"ltr\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf article-body-module__element__5eCce article-body-module__trust-badge__5mS3f\">Our Standards: <a data-testid=\"Link\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thomsonreuters.com\/en\/about-us\/trust-principles.html\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__medium__2Rl30 text-module__small__sph8i link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC link-module__with-icon__qlg76\">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reutersagency.com\/en\/licensereuterscontent\/?utm_medium=rcom-article-media&amp;utm_campaign=rcom-rcp-lead\" target=\"_blank\" dir=\"ltr\" class=\"button-module__link__A3sD0 button-module__secondary__70gBu button-module__round__QDFgq button-module__w_auto__Sem-F\" data-testid=\"LicenceContentButton\" rel=\"noopener\">Purchase Licensing Rights<\/a><a data-testid=\"AuthorBioImageLink\" class=\"author-bio-module__author-image__jcaG3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/authors\/howard-schneider\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" tabindex=\"-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__extra_small__8Buss body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__extra_small_body__Bfz20 author-bio-module__description__9ynkB\">Covers the U.S. Federal Reserve, monetary policy and the economy, a graduate of the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University with previous experience as a foreign correspondent, economics reporter and on the local staff of the Washington Post.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Minutes covered December 9-10 meeting Most policymakers supported rate cut amid broad debate Some rate cut supporters noted&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":481553,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[216147,64,216397,218094,218098,216409,218102,216216,216152,216411,216404,216215,216164,216153,216398,55855,218092,1257,218099,216142,218095,218100,218101,218096,59960,8042,4630,127860,218097,216149,216143,218091,216407,216155,216401,175344,216408,218093,216158,216157,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-481552","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-amers","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-cen","11":"tag-dbt","12":"tag-destef-markets-macromatters","13":"tag-destlita","14":"tag-destobnk","15":"tag-destocabsm","16":"tag-destocatpm","17":"tag-destopub","18":"tag-destortao","19":"tag-destousbsm","20":"tag-destousdnm","21":"tag-destoustpm","22":"tag-eci","23":"tag-eco","24":"tag-efmarkets-macromatters","25":"tag-fed","26":"tag-fed-fomc","27":"tag-govact","28":"tag-gvd","29":"tag-gvgvf","30":"tag-gvgvf1","31":"tag-infl","32":"tag-int","33":"tag-job","34":"tag-legal","35":"tag-mce","36":"tag-mplt","37":"tag-namer","38":"tag-news1","39":"tag-nrlpaobnk","40":"tag-nrlpaopub","41":"tag-packageus-top-news","42":"tag-plcy","43":"tag-rep","44":"tag-reuters-legal","45":"tag-rulesmarkets-us-fed","46":"tag-topcmb","47":"tag-topnws","48":"tag-united-states","49":"tag-unitedstates","50":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=481552"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481552\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/481553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=481552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=481552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=481552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}