Federal Reserve officials saw risks of higher-than-expected inflation, due in part to potential tariffs by President-elect Donald Trump, when they made a “finely balanced” decision last month to lower interest rates,

The Federal Open Market Committee is highly likely to hold interest rates at their current level at their next meeting, but cuts later in 2025 remain on the table.

Federal Reserve officials debated the staying power of inflation at the central bank’s December meeting, with a range of views on where interest rates could settle in 2025. Policymakers emphasized that policy is not on a preset path and will need to evolve in response to both economic data and the new administration’s policies.

Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Patrick Harker said on Thursday he still expects the U.S. central bank to cut interest rates but added that the policy path is clouded by considerable economic uncertainty.

But minutes from their December meeting suggest that the decision was a close call — and that there is no guarantee policymakers will lower rates again anytime soon. The minutes of the central bank’s Dec.

Powell is admitting that inflation is still too high, but the Fed still plans to cut interest rates by .25%. So why are mortgage rates going up? Read more

Fed releases minutes from its December meeting, where its policymakers signaled a slower pace of interest-rate cuts in 2025.

Federal Reserve officials at their meeting Dec. 17-18 expected to dial back the pace of interest rate cuts this year in the face of persistently elevated inflation and the threat of widespread tariffs

A top policymaker at the US Federal Reserve says that he still supports reducing interest rates this year, despite elevated inflation and the prospect of widespread tariffs