Fed Minutes Set to Reveal Interest Rate Debate

Minutes from the Federal Reserve's July meeting on interest rates are set to be released this Wednesday afternoon. The Fed kept interest rates steady, but a few officials wanted to raise borrowing costs. Tim Duy, chief U.S. economist at SGH Macro Advisors, is watching for how that played out.

Duy notes that disagreement among Fed officials has become more common in recent years. He attributes this to the economy facing different stresses, which can lead to strong feelings among participants and thus more dissents.

The minutes from the July meeting will focus on discussion about inflation, which had been rising above the Fed's target rate. Some participants thought the Fed should raise interest rates to contain inflationary pressures.

Since the last Fed meeting, new economic data has emerged: the U.S. economy lost 23,000 jobs in July and inflation ticked down slightly. Duy expects the Fed to consider this shifting data at its next interest rate meeting in September.