Federal Reserve officials in September were strongly inclined to lower interest rates, with the only dispute seeming to be over how many cuts were coming, meeting minutes released Wednesday showed.

The meeting summar y indicated near unanimity among participants at the Federal Open Market Committee that the central bank's key overnight borrowing rate should be cut due to weakness in the labor market.

They split, however, on whether there should be two or three total reductions this year, including the quarter percentage point move approved at the Sept. 16-17 meeting.

"In considering the outlook for monetary policy, almost all participants noted that, with the reduction in the target range for the federal funds rate at this meeting, the Committee was well positioned to respond in a tim

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