Most Federal Reserve officials expect it to become appropriate to raise interest rates relatively soon, according to the minutes of the November meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee.

The minutes noted that the expectation for a near-term rate hike is contingent on incoming data providing some further evidence of continued progress toward the Fed's objectives.

Some meeting participants argued that a rate hike should occur at the next meeting in December in order to preserve credibility following the committee's recent communications, rttnews says.

The Fed said a few participants advocated increasing rates at the November meeting, including voting members Kansas City Fed President Esther George and Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester.

Those preferring a rate hike viewed labor market conditions as at or close to those consistent with maximum employment and expected the recent progress toward the committee's inflation objective to continue.