Fed officials expect longer wait for rate cut

Nick Timiraos, the "Fed Mouthpiece," wrote that Fed officials concluded at their most recent meeting that they need to keep interest rates at current levels longer than previously expected. Last month, U.S. inflation data disappointed for the third consecutive month. According to the latest meeting minutes, while officials still believe that interest rates are high enough to curb economic activity and reduce inflation, they hinted that they are less sure about the extent of policy restrictiveness. An unknown number of officials mentioned that they are willing to tighten policy further if inflation risks make tightening policy justified. Price pressures slowed significantly in the second half of last year, and Fed officials hinted in March that they might be ready to start cutting interest rates if there was another month or two of mild inflation. But a series of data in the first quarter showed that price pressures in the economy were heating up, and unless the job market weakened unexpectedly, the Fed has been forced to shelve any consideration of starting to cut interest rates in the coming months.