Fed Minutes Signal Officials on Interest Rate Hold Until Inflation Improves

> Federal Reserve officials in January expressed their readiness to hold interest rates steady amid stubborn inflation and economic policy uncertainty.

> “Participants indicated that, provided the economy remained near maximum employment, they would want to see further progress on inflation before making additional adjustments to the target range for the federal funds rate,” minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee’s Jan. 28-29 meeting showed.

> The minutes, released Wednesday in Washington, said “many participants noted that the committee could hold the policy rate at a restrictive level if the economy remained strong and inflation remained elevated.”

> Officials held the Fed’s benchmark policy rate in a range of 4.25%-4.5% at that gathering.