Fed officials predicted in December that the central bank would raise its benchmark rate three times during 2017, lifting the rate from its current range between 0.5 percent<br />and 0.75 percent to a range of 1.25 percent to 1.5 percent.<br />“At our upcoming meetings, the committee will evaluate whether employment<br />and inflation are continuing to evolve in line with these expectations, in which case a further adjustment of the federal funds rate would likely be appropriate,” Ms. Yellen said, referring to the Federal Open Market Committee, which sets monetary policy.<br />Ms. Yellen did not address the Fed’s role as a financial regulator in her opening remarks,<br />but the subject is likely to take center stage when Ms. Yellen fields questions from the banking committee later Tuesday morning.<br />The new chairman of the banking committee, Senator Michael D. Crapo, Republican of Idaho, said in his prepared remarks<br />that he hoped the Fed would cooperate with the Trump administration in its efforts to reduce financial regulation.<br />The unemployment rate was little changed over the last year, standing at 4.8 percent in January, even as the economy added an average of 190,000 jobs a month during the second half of 2016,<br />and an additional 227,000 jobs in the first month of 2017.<br />Charles Evans, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, told reporters last week<br />that the expectation of three increases “is not unreasonable.” The comments are particularly noteworthy because Mr. Evans remains one of the strongest proponents of the Fed’s stimulus campaign<br />Job growth remains strong, and inflation is rising toward a healthier level, Ms. Yellen said in prepared testimony to the Senate Banking Committee.<br />Ms. Yellen also said the Fed remained pleased with the performance of the economy, and expected to continue increasing its benchmark interest rate.
