Federal Reserve officials had grown more worried about the U.S. economy by the time they met in mid-September, according to minutes of the central bank’s meeting released Wednesday.
“Softness in business investment and manufacturing so far this year was seen as pointing to the possibility of a more substantial slowing in economic growth than the staff projected,” the minutes showed. “One risk that the economy faced was that the softness recorded of late in firms’ capital formation, manufacturing and exporting activities might spread to their hiring decisions, with adverse implications for household income and spending,” the minutes said.
“They contended that the key uncertainties were unlikely to be resolved anytime soon,” the minutes said. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday the central bank was operating on a meeting-by-meeting basis and would act as appropriate to sustain the expansion. But the discussion in the minutes was a bit stale now that Powell has announced the Fed would “soon” start expanding the size of its balance sheet by purchasing short-term Treasury bills.