WASHINGTON -- The Federal Reserve saw the US economic recovery was proceeding at a moderate pace in the second quarter, but unemployment rate remained elevated, according to minutes of the latest central bank meeting released on Wednesday.

Top officials of the Fed said that they continued to anticipate a moderate recovery in economic activity through 2011, supported by accommodative monetary policy. In the previous meeting, they presented a relatively stronger forecast, saying the economy can grow between 3.2 percent and 3.7 percent this year.

According to the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the central bank's policy making group which meet eight times a year to set interest rates, the Fed was considering whether to implement further policy stimulus if the outlook were to worsen appreciably.