US Fed signals interest rate lift-off unlikely in June amid headwinds to growth

Washington

FEDERAL Reserve officials signalled they are unlikely to raise interest rates in June while leaving open the option of tightening later in the year.

Minutes of their April meeting, released on Wednesday in Washington, also confirmed that the Fed expects growth to pick up after stalling in the first quarter, even as officials fretted about the strength of the consumer spending that makes up two-thirds of the economy.

"The tone is frustration," said Lindsey Piegza, chief economist at Sterne Agee & Leach Inc. in Chicago. "Why isn't the economy getting any…