Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen testified to Senators this morning that recent data indicate the economy has rebounded from a sharp slowdown in the first three months of the year. But the recovery “is not yet complete,” she warned. She continued that there is “significant slack” remaining in labor markets and inflation is still below the Fed’s goal. She refused to provide a specific timetable for raising short-term interest rates. But she said she and other members of the policymaking Federal Open Market Committee would continue to monitor economic progress.
“We need to be careful to make sure the economy is on a solid trajectory before we consider raising interest rates,” she said.
Yellen also stressed that the housing market “has shown little recent progress.”
Stocks fell off their high of 17,120 as she was testifying.