The Federal Reserve released the minutes of its July monetary policy meeting on the 20th. Fed members attending the meeting agreed that U.S. economic activity slowed in the first half of the year, while inflation remained elevated. The impact of tariffs was more pronounced in commodity prices. With the slowdown in economic activity and consumer spending, downside risks to the U.S. job market have increased significantly, leading to uncertainty in the economic growth outlook. At the same time, most Fed members expressed greater concern about inflation risks than the labor market, agreeing to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 4.25% to 4.5%.
