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Federal Reserve officials said at their last policy meeting that rates would likely stay higher for longer if inflation readings continued to disappoint, while some policymakers discussed their willingness to raise rates if needed.
"Various participants mentioned a willingness to tighten policy further should risks to inflation materialize in a way that such an action became appropriate,” according to the minutes of the last meeting, which took place April 30 and May 1.
Stocks slipped from record highs after the minutes were released.
"Higher for longer is the official mantra as the Fed officially acknowledged that inflation is staying more sticky than they would have liked," said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Independent Advisor Alliance.
"Although they wanted to cut rates, they are not going to be able to do that in the near future."
Read more: What the Fed rate decision means for bank accounts, CDs, loans, and credit cards
The Fed decided on May 1 to keep its benchmark interest rate in a range of 5.25%-5.50%, a 23-year high, as it tries to get inflation down to its goal of 2%.
The inflation readings in the first quarter were hotter than expected, but an April reading released after the Fed's last meeting did show some easing of those price pressures.
The Consumer Price Index on a "core" basis, which strips out food and energy prices, rose 3.6% year over year, a cooling from the 3.8% increase seen in March.
Fed officials at their last meeting cited the disappointing readings on inflation over the first quarter and indicators pointing to strong economic momentum as reasons why they believe they’ll have to hold rates higher for longer.
A few thought that "unusually large seasonal patterns" could have contributed to January’s large increase in inflation, while several noted that some components that typically display volatile price changes had boosted recent readings.
But some emphasized that the recent increases in inflation had been relatively broad-based and shouldn’t be discounted.
There was also a discussion about the restrictiveness of the current level of interest rates.
Many acknowledged uncertainty about how restrictive the rates actually are, noting that high rates may be having less of an impact than in past cycles or that longer-run rates that neither boost nor slow economic growth may be higher than thought.
"A number of participants noted uncertainty regarding the degree of restrictiveness of current financial conditions and the associated risk that such conditions were insufficiently restrictive on aggregate demand and inflation," the minutes said.