All FOMC participants agreed that the Fed was in a position to proceed carefully and that policy decisions at every meeting would continue to be based on the totality of incoming information and its implications for the economic outlook as well as the balance of risks, minutes from the last FOMC meeting on October 31-November 1, 2023 showed. Participants noted that further tightening of monetary policy would be appropriate if incoming information indicated that progress toward the inflation objective was insufficient. The minutes also showed that despite the moderation, inflation remained well above the 2% longer-run objective, and that the Fed would need to see more data indicating that inflation pressures were abating to be more confident that inflation was on course to return to the target. The Fed kept the target range for the federal funds rate at its 22-year high of 5.25%-5.5% for a second consecutive time in November.
