Fed minutes: Most officials favored a rate cut in September if inflation continued to cool

AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Most Federal Reserve officials agreed last month that they would likely cut their benchmark interest rate at their next meeting in September as long as inflation continued to cool. The minutes of the Fed’s July 30-31 meeting indicate that the “vast majority” of policymakers “observed that, if the data continued to come in about as expected, it would likely be appropriate to ease policy at the next meeting.” Wall Street traders had already considered it a certainty that the Fed will announce its first interest rate cut in four years when it meets in mid-September.