Fed Minute Downplay Possibility Of June Rate Hike

(RTTNews) - Only a "few" Federal Reserve members anticipate raising interest rates in June, according to the minutes of the Federal Reserve's April 29-30 meeting.

Back in March, "several" members said the Fed was on track to raise rates in June, but policy makers appear more reluctant to tighten given the fragile nature of the economic recovery.

April's dismal retail sales report came out days after the meeting and was therefore not factored in, meaning the Fed is even less likely to seriously consider a summertime rate hike than these minutes would indicate.

U.S. retail sales were flat last month despite warm weather and pent up demand following a brutal winter, prompting a number of analyst to downwardly revise second quarter GDP estimates.

The penny-pinching is especially worrisome given that consumers have benefited from low gas prices all year.

Fed members say they will be keeping a close eye on incoming economic data.

"A few anticipated that the information that would accrue by the time of the June meeting would likely indicate sufficient improvement in the economic outlook to lead the Committee to judge that its conditions for beginning policy firming had been met," the minutes read.

"Many participants, however, thought it unlikely that the data available in June would provide sufficient confirmation that the conditions for raising the target range for the federal funds rate had been satisfied, although they generally did not rule out this possibility."