Fed minutes: Officials cited strong hiring to justify hikes

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER
AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve officials suggested at their most recent meeting that a continuing streak of robust hiring could keep inflation elevated and was a key reason why they expected to raise interest rates this year more than they had previously forecast. In the minutes of their mid-December meeting, the officials indicated that a slowdown in its rate hikes – from four three-quarter point hikes in a row to a half-point increase last month – “was not an indication of any weakening” in their resolve to bring inflation back down to their 2% target. Nor did the smaller increase signal “a judgment that inflation was already on a persistent downward path,” the minutes said.