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.”In considering the outlook for monetary policy, almost all participants noted that, with the reduction in the target range for the federal funds rate at this meeting, the Committee was well positioned to respond in a timely way to potential economic developments,” the minutes stated.”Participants expressed a range of views about the degree to which the current stance of monetary policy was restrictive and about the likely future path of policy,” the document added. “Most judged that it likely would be appropriate to ease policy further over the remainder of this year.”A one-vote differenceProjection materials released at the meeting exemplified the close split among the 19 officials who take part at FOMC meetings, 12 of whom vote.While the full Federal Open Market Committee voted 11-1 to lower its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point, participants had varying views on how aggressive they should be through the rest of 2025 and the next several years. The reduction took the federal funds rate down to a target range of 4%-4.25%.Ultimately, a slight 10-9 ma …
