Fed at last meeting saw few signs that inflation was easing

By PAUL WISEMAN
AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve officials at their last meeting saw “very few signs that inflation pressures were abating” before raising their benchmark interest rate by a substantial three-quarters of a point for a fourth straight time. Rising wages, the result of a strong job market, combined with weak productivity growth, were “inconsistent” with the Fed’s ability to meet its 2% target for annual inflation, the policymakers concluded, according to the minutes of their Nov. 1-2 meeting. But they also agreed that smaller rate hikes “would likely soon be appropriate.″ The Fed is widely expected to slow its rate hikes to a half-point increase when it next meets in mid-December.