Fed minutes: Almost all officials backed quarter-point hike

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER
AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly all Federal Reserve policymakers agreed earlier this month to slow the pace of their rate increases to a quarter-point, with only “a few” supporting a larger half-point hike. The minutes from the Fed’s Jan. 31-Feb.1 meeting said most of the officials supported the quarter-point increase because a slower pace “would better allow them to assess the economy’s progress” toward reducing inflation to their 2% target. The increase raised the Fed’s benchmark rate to its highest level in 15 years. It followed a half-point rate increase in December and four three-quarter-point hikes before that. The central bank’s rate hikes typically lead to more expensive mortgages, auto loans, credit card borrowing and business lending.