The Federal Reserve is leaning toward taking two steps to boost the economy: Buying more Treasury bonds to drive down loan rates, and signaling an openness to higher prices later to encourage more spending now.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues appeared to be nearing consensus on those ideas at their September 21 meeting, according to minutes of the closed-door deliberations that were released Tuesday.

Economists predict Fed officials will approve the bond purchase program at their Nov. 2-3 meeting.

Fed policymakers also spoke at their last meeting about setting a higher inflation target, hoping that would get people to spend more money in short run.

The minutes showed the Fed was concerned that the economy was growing slower than they had expected. While Fed officials didn't see the economy slipping back into a recession, they worried it had become vulnerable to "potential negative shocks." They expressed concerns that unemployment, which has been at 9.6 percent for the past months, would stay elevated.

Fed officials said they were prepared to provide additional relief "before long," according to the minutes. Economists and investors took that as a sign that they are ready to act.