The Federal Reserve Board, which sets US national monetary policy, released minutes from its latest meeting today, striking a tone of temperate growth.

Board members saw moderate improvement in the economy and said there are no plans to modify the Fed’s big bond-buying program aka “quantitative easing.” The group is less worried about falling prices and sees them gradually rising, though they expect inflation to remain below their target of 2%.

Participants noted that with the glut of supply there is still the possibility of further deterioration in the housing market. And while businesses are more optimistic about the economic outlook, hiring is going to remain cautious for the near-term. Sorry.

A market rally took a breather down in anticipation of the minutes, but stocks edged higher after seeing there was nothing unexpected in what the Fed had to say.

You can read all the minutes here.

Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee December 14, 2010 [Federalreserve.gov]

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