WASHINGTON (AP) – Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen will give a widely anticipated speech on the economy and interest rates Monday after a dismal jobs report Friday raised doubts about the Fed’s timetable for a rate hike.
Investors will be reviewing Yellen’s speech in Philadelphia for any fresh hints about her outlook for rates and about the state of the economy.
In remarks she made on June 3, Yellen had said that a rate hike would likely be appropriate “in the coming months” if the economy kept improving.
The question now is whether that assessment has changed. Lael Brainard, a Fed board member and Yellen ally, indicated Friday after the jobs report was released that the Fed should be in no hurry to raise rates.
Before the poor jobs number was released, speculation had been growing that the Fed might raise its key policy rate for a second time after its next meeting ends June 15. The Fed had modestly increased its benchmark rate in December from a record low near zero, where it had been since the height of the financial crisis in 2008.