Washington ? The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates a quarter-point today, but with job creation at a near standstill many economists believe the Fed will then put its credit-tightening campaign on hold until after the elections.

That marks a change from the previous consensus that the Fed, when it raised rates for the first time in four years on June 30, was setting the stage for gradual rate hikes at every Fed meeting for the rest of the year.

The change is being prompted by last Friday’s startling unemployment report, which showed the economy managed to create just 32,000 jobs in July, the smallest monthly job increase this year and far below the 200,000-plus jobs that economists had been expecting. It was the most dramatic sign yet that the economy had hit what Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan had earlier termed a “soft patch.”

Most analysts believe the Fed will not see the weak July performance as an indication that the economic recovery is in danger of stalling, noting that other indicators of July activity, such as auto sales, have shown a rebound after a disappointing June.

“I think the Fed will see this as a temporary setback that they don’t expect to last,” said Sung Won Sohn, chief economist at Wells Fargo in Minneapolis.

When the Fed nudged its federal funds rate, the interest banks charge each other, up from a 46-year low of 1 percent to 1.25 percent, it announced that it believed future rate increases could be made “at a pace that is likely to be measured.”

At the time the Fed took its action, the economy appeared to be racing ahead. But since then a variety of reports have shown that the big spike in oil prices this year caused consumers to dramatically cut back on spending and raised questions among businesses about their hiring plans.