Powell just a week after the meeting said the economy was "not sending any signals that we need to be in a hurry to lower rates."

The Fed has lowered interest rates by a total of 75 basis points over its last two meetings, but further rate cuts may be sparse.

Federal Reserve officials expressed confidence that inflation is easing and the labor market is strong, allowing for further interest rate cuts albeit at a gradual pace, according to minutes from the November meeting released Tuesday.

Many” senior Federal Reserve officials said uncertainty about the so-called neutral level of interest rates support a more gradual approach in reducing U.S. borrowing costs, new documents show.

Federal Reserve officials appeared divided at their meeting earlier this month over how much farther they may need to cut interest rates, but as a group agreed to avoid giving much guidance from here on about how U.

The account of the central bank’s Nov. 6-7 meeting, released on Tuesday, showed that Fed officials still planned to cut interest rates further. But with the job market holding up better than expected and the economy growing at a solid clip, they are in no rush to slash them rapidly.

"Unemployment is going to come down, growth is going to come up, inflation is going to come up," Deutsche Bank's chief US economist said.

The Federal Reserve was expected to lower its key interest rate later that month, and Doolittle and his partner hoped the cut would drive down mortgage rates even further. The wait cost them.