The Federal Reserve released the minutes from the January 28 FOMC meeting on February 18 and they were revealing. The minutes reaffirmed my view that there are 3 groups within the FOMC and the lines between them are entrenched, unless incoming data shows an acceleration in labor market weakness or a decline in inflation toward the FOMC’s 2% inflation target. The labor market is the priority for the first group, while the second group is more focused on inflation. The third group is comprised of ‘fence sitters’ who are sensitive to the labor...
