By Nick Timiraos 

Federal Reserve officials will feel comfortable maintaining their wait-and-see posture on interest rates after Friday's report showing robust hiring in November.

Even before the Labor Department's report Friday, Fed officials were prepared to hold rates steady at their two-day meeting next week after having lowered their short-term benchmark rate by a quarter percentage point at their previous three meetings, most recently in October to a range between 1.5% and 1.75%.

The question now is how long the Fed stays there. Officials have indicated concern that the economy could slow more than they expect, making it possible that they would need to cut interest rates again next year. They have said the outlook would have to deteriorate for them to make such a move.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 06, 2019 09:15 ET (14:15 GMT)