WASHINGTON (AP) – Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen will have some good news to tell Congress this week about the health of the labor market. But lawmakers will likely press her to provide more information on just how the central bank intends to react to the good news.
Yellen is scheduled to deliver the Fed’s twice-a-year report to Congress on interest-rate policy and the economy. She testifies before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday and will follow that with testimony Wednesday before the House Financial Services Committee.
She delivered her first monetary report to Congress in February, just a week after being sworn in to succeed Ben Bernanke as the first woman to head the central bank.
While unemployment stood at 6.7 percent in February, it has now fallen to 6.1 percent, the lowest point since September 2008, reflecting strong job growth in recent months. The economy has created an average of more than 200,000 jobs a month over the past five months, the strongest stretch since the late 1990s.
That will be the good news that Yellen will relate. But lawmakers are certain to quiz her about what the performance of the labor market will mean for the Fed’s handling of interest rates in coming months.