With employment falling sharply, the housing market showing no sign of stabilization, and credit conditions still tight, the central bank projected the economy would shrink by between 0.5 percent and 1.3 percent this year, according to minutes of the meeting that were released on Wednesday.
In October, the Fed's central tendency forecast for 2009 economic growth ranged from a decline of 0.2 percent to growth of 1.1 percent for this year.
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