The Fed's rate cut masked large internal differences about where policy is going

The Federal Reserve found plenty of unity this week to push through a quarter percentage point interest rate reduction, a decision that nonetheless masked substantial divisions among officials over what's ahead. Countering Wall Street expectations for multiple dissents, the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee on Wednesday voted 11 to 1 in favor of the reduction. However, the "dot plot" of individual participants' expectations told a different story: A sharp divide on how many more cuts should happen this year and the next three, along with wide dispersions on forecasts for gross domestic product, inflation and unemployment. So while the final rate vote was lopsided, supporting documents for the committee's Summary of Economic Projections showed considerable uncertainty on the future