Fed Minutes: Rate Hike "Approaching"

(RTTNews) - The Federal Reserve is moving closer to raising interest rates, according to minutes from the July meeting released Wednesday.

"Participants viewed the information received over the intermeeting period as suggesting that economic activity had been expanding moderately in recent months," the minutes read.

In a strong sign that the Fed is considering a September rate hike, it said the pace of job gains had been "solid," with a range of labor market indicators suggesting that underutilization of labor resources had continued to diminish.

Most members judged that the conditions for tightening had not yet been achieved, but they noted that conditions were "approaching that point."

Policy makers expect the economy to grow faster in the second half of this year than in the first half and continue to improve in 2016 and 2017 even as rates gradually rise.

Members think inflation will remain subdued, however, as energy prices have slipped to multi-year lows.