Looking ahead, the Fed expects to make further rate cuts— possibly another 0.50% in 2024 and 1.0% more in 2025. Additionally, the Federal Reserve now expects the unemployment rate to rise to 4.4% in 2024, and inflation to come down to 2.3%.

The Fed’s decision to cut interest rates in September prompted a debate, according to the minutes of that Federal Reserve board meeting.

The dissenting governor, Michelle Bowman, said she voted against the larger interest rate cut because she would have preferred a quarter-point decrease. She added in a speech to a bankers’ group in Kentucky that the bigger rate cut “could be interpreted as a premature declaration of victory on our price-stability mandate,” CNBC reported.