WASHINGTON -- The Federal Reserve’s policy-making committee took no new steps to support the economy at a meeting that ended Wednesday, although the committee signaled in a statement that it was ready to take new action if job growth does not improve.


The Fed said that the pace of economic growth had slowed over the summer, and said that it expected the unemployment rate to fall “only slowly.”


Nonetheless, the Fed chose to defer action at least until the committee’s next meeting in September, in hopes that the regular arrival of new data will provide greater clarity about the health of the economy.


“The committee will closely monitor incoming information on economic and financial developments and will provide additional accommodation as needed to promote stronger economic recovery and sustained improvement in labor market conditions,” the committee said, using language that was somewhat stronger than it has used in past statements.


The decision was supported by 11 members of the committee. Jeffrey M. Lacker, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, dissented as he has done at each meeting this year. He wants the Fed to reduce its efforts to stimulate the economy.


Some Fed officials argued in recent weeks that the weak pace of growth required new action. They noted in particular that the unemployment rate had stagnated above 8 percent since January, and that the most recent forecasts of Fed officials, published in June, projected that the rate would decline slightly, if at all, during the second half of the year.


Others were more cautious, suggesting that major decisions should be postponed at least until the next meeting of the policy-making committee in September. The government will issue a preliminary estimate of July job creation on Friday, and it will issue the estimate of August job creation before the scheduled meeting in September, clarifying the trend.


The uncertain state of Europe also looms large in the Fed’s decision-making. The Continent’s economic struggles are weighing on the American economy, and an intensification of the euro zone crisis could destabilize financial markets. Fed officials have cited those concerns as reasons they are considering new action.


But the European Central Bank meets Thursday, and it could diminish the Fed’s sense of urgency by itself acting more forcefully.


Mario Draghi, the European bank’s president, raised expectations last week when he said he would do “whatever it takes to preserve the euro.” But the meaning of those comments is unclear, particularly because public opinion in Germany remains deeply averse to large-scale purchases of government bonds or other measures to help lower borrowing costs for Spain and Italy.


In Congressional testimony last month, Ben S. Bernanke, the Fed chairman, singled out two options if the Fed decided to act again. The Fed could expand its portfolio of Treasury securities and mortgage-backed securities, a policy known as quantitative easing. Fed officials regard this as the most effective means available to bolster the economy, but they are divided about the extent of the benefits, and they are concerned about the costs, including the possibility that the Fed’s huge purchases will disrupt the normal operations of financial markets.


Mr. Bernanke also mentioned the possibility that the Fed could extend its existing prediction that it would hold its benchmark interest rate near zero at least until late 2014. The Fed made that prediction in January, when it extended an earlier prediction that rates would remain near zero at least until mid-2013.


In making such predictions, known as forward guidance, the Fed is trying to reduce borrowing costs by convincing investors that it is safe to accept lower returns.


To enhance the impact, the Fed also has said that it would not begin to sell its vast portfolio of Treasury securities and mortgage-backed securities until after it begins to raise interest rates. Those holdings also put downward pressure on borrowing costs by reducing the supply of some investments, pushing investors to accept lower returns.


The impact of the Fed’s forward guidance is limited in part because officials have made clear that it is a prediction rather than a commitment – and it is a prediction closely related to the economic forecast that the Fed already provides. The Fed, in other words, is simply saying that interest rates will remain low if the economy remains weak.


Some research has found that the announcements still can move financial markets. A paper published last month, co-authored by a new Fed governor, Jeremy C. Stein, found that the Fed’s January announcement reduced yields on 10-year Treasury securities by five basis points, which the authors described as a “surprisingly strong impact.”


Other research finds little effect. A study published in March 2012, examining the impact of guidance by the Fed and central banks in Norway, Sweden and New Zealand, found “little or no convincing evidence that forward guidance actually improves markets’ ability to forecast future rates or that any improvement in forecasting short-term rates is reflected in longer-term yields.”


The effect of a further extension could also be diluted because Mr. Bernanke’s term as Fed chairman ends in January 2014, creating uncertainty about Fed policy beyond that date.