"There's a tremendous amount of pain and many, many companies that are going bust because of the Fed's monetary policy."

Officials voted unanimously to keep the benchmark federal funds rate in a range of 5.25% to 5.5%—a two-decade high first reached last July.

"There's a lot of movement on the services side and it's going to take a little bit of time. I do believe we are on the right path here."

Quantitative tightening is "an underappreciated risk" that might keep bond yields higher for longer. Auctions of 10- and 30-year Treasuries were poorly received this month, and supply will keep increasing, thanks to the widening budget deficit.

But the prospect of a future rate hike is still on the table.

The debate is shifting from how high rates need to go to how long they should stay elevated.

But Chairman Powell says nearly all officials expect "somewhat further" increases, whether in July or beyond.

January's personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index came in hotter than expected today, rising 5.4% from a year earlier vs. a 5% increase in December.