Fed minutes: Officials felt 3 rate cuts this year could be enough

WASHINGTON —  Most Federal Reserve officials believed last month that the three rate cuts they made this year would be enough unless the economy weakened significantly.

The minutes of the October Fed meeting reveal that “most participants” thought that this year’s rate cuts would be sufficient to support moderate growth, a continued strong job market and inflation rising toward the Fed’s 2% target level.

A “couple” of Fed officials suggested that this view should be reinforced by additional comments after the meeting that further rate cuts were “unlikely in the near term” unless the economy slowed significantly.

The consensus among economists is that the Fed will now pause after cutting rates three times in 2019, with its benchmark rate in a range of 1.5% to 1.75%.