Federal Reserve policy makers said they will consider tightening policy at their next meeting in December, without making a commitment to act this year, as the economy continues to expand at a “moderate” pace.
Even with a slower pace of recent job gains, “labor market indicators, on balance, show that underutilization of labor resources has diminished since early this year,” the Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement Wednesday following a two-day meeting in Washington.
The Fed removed a line from September’s statement saying that global economic and financial developments “may restrain economic activity somewhat,” saying Wednesday only that the central bank is monitoring the international situation. The committee also added a reference to the possibility of increasing the rate “at its next meeting” based on “realized and expected” progress in reaching goals.
“The Fed is clearly signaling that the default plan is to raise rates in December,” said Dean Maki, chief economist at Point72 Asset Management in Stamford, Connecticut. “It signals that something needs to prevent them from hiking in December rather than that something needs to happen for them to raise.”