Powell just a week after the meeting said the economy was "not sending any signals that we need to be in a hurry to lower rates."

The Fed has lowered interest rates by a total of 75 basis points over its last two meetings, but further rate cuts may be sparse.

Federal Reserve officials appeared divided at their meeting earlier this month over how much farther they may need to cut interest rates, but as a group agreed to avoid giving much guidance from here on about how U.

Many” senior Federal Reserve officials said uncertainty about the so-called neutral level of interest rates support a more gradual approach in reducing U.S. borrowing costs, new documents show.

Federal Reserve officials expressed confidence that inflation is easing and the labor market is strong, allowing for further interest rate cuts albeit at a gradual pace, according to minutes from the November meeting released Tuesday.

The account of the central bank’s Nov. 6-7 meeting, released on Tuesday, showed that Fed officials still planned to cut interest rates further. But with the job market holding up better than expected and the economy growing at a solid clip, they are in no rush to slash them rapidly.

Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee said the neutral rate is "well below" where it is right now, and policymakers can cut further so long as the economy does not overheat.

"Unemployment is going to come down, growth is going to come up, inflation is going to come up," Deutsche Bank's chief US economist said.

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee said it would be “perfectly sensible” for the US central bank to slow down the pace of its interest-rate cuts as it approaches what it deems a neutral setting for monetary policy.