Inflation Fears Drove Larger Fed Rate Increase in June

Federal Reserve officials agreed at their meeting last month they would have to raise interest rates faster and to levels high enough to slow economic growth because of the worsening inflation picture.

Officials voted to raise their benchmark rate by 0.75 percentage point in June, the largest increase since 1994, and several officials have indicated since then that they are prepared to support another such increase at their meeting later this month.

The Federal Reserve's main tool for managing the economy is to change the federal funds rate, which can affect not only...