Fed officials link rate increase to economic data

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve officials agreed last month that they would begin raising interest rates only when measures of the economy's health and inflation signaled the time was right.

Minutes of the Fed's discussions at the Sept. 16-17 meeting showed that they have moved away from linking any rate change to any specific period.

The officials were also worried that any change to the wording of the guidance could be misinterpreted as a fundamental shift in the Fed's stance on interest rates that would trigger an unintended rise in market rates.

For now, the Fed decided to leave unchanged its statement saying that any increase in the short-term rate that it controls would not occur until a "considerable time" after it ends its monthly bond purchases.