New documents show Federal Reserve policymakers had greater confidence in August that the recession was ending and felt comfortable slowing the pace of one of its economic revival programs.

Minutes of the central bank's closed door deliberations, held Aug. 11-12, also show Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues striking a much more hopeful note about the economy's prospects compared with an assessment made in late June.

The documents say many Fed officials saw "smaller downside risks."