Federal Reserve officials last month strongly considered raising rates by a half-percentage point and neared agreement on a plan to reduce their bondholdings as part of their most aggressive effort in years to curb price pressures.
Officials last month approved their first interest rate increase in more than three years, raising their benchmark rate by a quarter percentage point to a range between 0.25% and 0.5%. They also penciled in a series of additional rate increases this year to take rates closer to 2%, amid inflation that has surged to a four-decade high.
