WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) policymakers saw "the recovery in economic activity was gaining momentum," , according to documents released Wednesday.

    Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the Fed's monetary policy decision meeting, held on Dec. 15-16, showed that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues saw more positive signs about the economy's prospects compared with an assessment made in November.

    The Fed said that "industrial production sustained the broad-based expansion that began in the third quarter."

    Consumer spending expanded solidly in October, reflecting in part a faster pace of motor vehicle sales. Sales of new homes and existing homes increased significantly in recent months.

    The Fed said that the pace of job losses slowed noticeably in recent months, and total hours worked increased in November, "however, the unemployment rate remained quite elevated."

    "The weakness in labor markets continued to be an important concern to meeting participants, who generally expected unemployment to remain elevated for quite some time," the minutes showed.

    The latest unemployment rate on November dipped slightly from October's 10.2 percent to 10.0 percent.

    But Fed members noted "that the slowing pace of employment declines mainly reflected a diminished pace of layoffs; few firms were hiring."

    In the previous minutes released in November that most Fed policymakers say it could take "five or six years" for the economy and the labor market to get back on a path of full health.

    The Fed said that "the prognosis for labor markets remained an important factor in the outlook for consumer spending," which accounts for about 70 percent of the overall U.S. economy.

    At the December meeting, the central bank extended its record low interest rates and reaffirmed this policy would remain in place "for an extended period" to support the fragile economic recovery.

    In order to fight the financial crisis and economic recession, the U.S. central bank cut the federal funds base rate of a range of zero to 0.25 percent in December 2008 and has been keeping it at the historic low level until now.