TEXT: FOMC minutes from meeting of December 11

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The following is the text of the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's meeting of December 11, issued on Wednesday:

"The Manager of the System Open Market Account reported on recent developments in foreign exchange markets. There were no open market operations in foreign currencies for the System's account in the period since the previous meeting. The Manager also reported on developments in domestic financial markets and on System open market operations in government securities and federal agency obligations during the period since the previous meeting. By unanimous vote, the Committee ratified these transactions. The Committee approved a foreign currency swap arrangement with the Swiss National Bank that paralleled the arrangement with the European Central Bank approved during the Committee's conference call on December 6, 2007. With Mr. Poole dissenting, the Committee voted to direct the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to establish and maintain a reciprocal currency (swap) arrangement for the System Open Market Account with the Swiss National Bank in an amount not to exceed $4 billion. The Committee authorized associated draws of up to the full amount of $4 billion, and the arrangement itself was authorized for a period of up to 180 days unless extended by the FOMC. Mr. Poole dissented because he viewed the swap agreement as unnecessary in light of the size of the Swiss National Bank's dollar-denominated foreign exchange reserves.

The information reviewed at the December meeting indicated that, after the robust gains of the summer, economic activity decelerated significantly in the fourth quarter. Consumption growth slowed, and survey measures of sentiment dropped further. Many readings from the business sector were also softer: Industrial production fell in October, as did orders and shipments of capital goods. Employment gains stepped down during the four months ending in November from their pace earlier in the year. Headline consumer price inflation moved higher in September and October as energy prices increased significantly; core inflation also rose but remained moderate.

The slowing in private employment gains was due in large part to the ongoing weakness in the housing market. Employment in residential construction posted its fourth month of sizable declines in November, and employment in housing-related sectors such as finance, real estate, and building-material and garden-supply retailers continued to trend down. Elsewhere, factory jobs declined again, while employment in most service producing industries continued to move up. Aggregate hours of production or nonsupervisory workers edged up in October and November. Some indicators from the household survey also suggested softening in the labor market, but the unemployment rate held steady at 4.7 percent through November.

Industrial production fell in October after small increases in the previous two months. The index for motor vehicles and parts fell for the third consecutive month, and the index for construction supplies moved down for the fourth straight month. Materials output also declined in October, with production likely curbed by weak demand from the construction and motor vehicle sectors. Production in high-tech industries, however, increased modestly, and commercial aircraft production registered another solid gain. In November, output appeared to have edged up in manufacturing sectors (with the exception of the motor vehicles sector) for which weekly physical product data were available.