U.S. Federal Reserve policy-makers worried more about inflation pressure than the downtown in housing when they met on May 9, according to minutes of the meeting.

"Nearly all participants viewed core inflation as remaining uncomfortably high and stressed the importance of further moderation," said the minutes released Wednesday.

Although readings on core inflation in March had been more favorable, the minutes said, this followed several months of elevated inflation data and price pressures were not yet viewed as convincingly on a downward trend.

At the May 9 meeting, the policy-makers held the federal funds rate, which commercial banks charge each other on overnight loans, steady at 5.25 percent.

Continued worries about inflation will keep the central bank from changing rates for possibly the entire year, analysts believe.

Fed policy-makers did expect the slump in home sales and construction that began last year would last longer than had been expected.

"The incoming data on new home sales and inventories suggested that the ongoing adjustment in the housing market would probably persist for longer than previously anticipated," said the minutes.

In particular, the demand for new homes appeared to have weakened further in recent months, and the stock of unsold homes relative to sales had increased sharply.

The labor market, however, appeared to remain relatively tight, said the minutes.

"The apparent tightness of the labor market remained a significant source of upside risk to inflation," the minutes said.

"Most participants continued to expect core inflation to slow gradually, although considerable uncertainty surrounded that judgment and the committee's predominant concern remained the risk that inflation would fail to moderate as expected," the minutes stated.