"Fed’s mouthpiece" Nick Timiraos wrote that Federal Reserve officials showed almost no willingness to cut interest rates at last month's meeting. Most of them stated that before considering further rate cuts, they want to see more progress in inflation — a process that may take several months. In addition, although two officials opposed the decision to keep rates unchanged and favored a rate cut at the January meeting, the minutes showed that other officials would have supported using more neutral wording to describe the prospects of rate cuts or hikes as balanced. The minutes stated that these officials would have been willing to change the carefully considered post-meeting statement of the Fed to reflect the possibility that rate hikes might be needed if inflation remains above the Fed’s target. The minutes showed: “Several participants indicated that they would support a two-way description of the Committee’s future rate decisions, reflecting that if inflation remains above target, an increase (in rates) might be appropriate.”