WASHINGTON – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues worried about the risks of higher inflation at their June meeting but in the end decided that a slowing economy should keep a lid on price pressures.
Minutes of those discussions released Thursday indicated that Fed policymakers worried about a number of potential inflation threats, including anecdotal evidence that businesses were having trouble hiring certain skilled workers and concerns that the jump in energy prices this year could become more of a problem.
But despite those worries, "inflation was seen by most participants as likely to edge down" because of the Fed's expectations that economic growth is slowing, the minutes said.
The Fed voted unanimously to raise its federal funds rate to 5.25 percent on June 29, but gave a lift to financial markets by providing several hints in the statement that the rate hikes could end soon.
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