"While these developments were positive, participants noted that it was not clear how much of the recent firming in final demand reflected the effects of temporary fiscal programs to support the auto and housing sectors, and some participants expressed concerns about the ability of the economy to generate a self-sustaining recovery without government support."
This, to me, encapsulates exactly where we are right now -- still on life support without a clue as to how the patient might fare if it were withdrawn.
And there was this:
"The weakness in labor market conditions remained an important concern to meeting participants, with unemployment expected to remain elevated for some time. Although the pace of job losses was moderating, the unusually large fraction of those who were working part time for economic reasons and the unusually low level of the average workweek pointed to only a gradual decline in the unemployment rate as the economic recovery proceeded. In addition, business contacts reported that they would be cautious in their hiring and would continue to aggressively seek cost savings in the absence of revenue growth. Indeed, participants expected that businesses would be able to meet any increases in demand in the near term by raising their employees’ hours and boosting productivity, thus delaying the need to add to their payrolls; this view was supported by aggregate data indicating rapid productivity growth in recent quarters."
In all, I think the FOMC minutes were another "things are less bad" report, but there are still very real concerns about the fragility of whatever recovery we may experience and the ease with which it might jump the tracks.
