Many Fed Officials Were Inclined to Keep Zero Rates Longer

The Federal Reserve signaled its willingness to keep interest rates low for longer, given risks to the U.S. economy ranging from a stronger dollar to tepid wages and a sluggish housing market.

Many officials “indicated that their assessment of the balance of risks associated with the timing of the beginning of policy normalization had inclined them toward” keeping rates near zero “for a longer time,” according to a record of their Jan. 27-28 gathering released Wednesday in Washington.