Fed Remains on Track to Raise Interest Rates Next Month<br />The officials “indicated that their decision about whether to increase the target range in the near term would depend importantly on whether the upcoming economic data boosted their confidence<br />that inflation was headed toward the Committee’s objective.”<br />Some Fed officials also want to raise rates because they are concerned<br />that financial market conditions have not tightened adequately this year, meaning credit is easier and cheaper to get than the Fed would have anticipated.<br />WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve is preparing to raise its benchmark interest rate in December despite the concerns of some<br />Fed officials about the persistent weakness of inflation, according to an account of the Fed’s most recent policy meeting.<br />At the two-day meeting that ended Nov. 1, those officials were “reasonably confident<br />that the economy and inflation would evolve in coming months such that an additional firming would likely be appropriate in the near term,” the Fed said.<br />But the meeting account, released after a standard three-week delay, is likely to solidify investor expectations<br />that the Fed will raise rates by a quarter-point at the December meeting.<br />While some officials favored watching and waiting, a majority of Fed officials — including the chairwoman, Janet L. Yellen — have made clear<br />that they are inclined to keep raising the Fed’s benchmark rate.<br />They fear that the persistence of sluggish inflation could damage the economy, for example,<br />by permanently eroding public expectations about the future pace of inflation.
