St Casimirs Mortgage Minute

Yellen: Interest Rate Hike to Come Later This Year

During a speech in Cleveland, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen provided an outlook for the U.S. economy. She said the economy is improving, unemployment is dropping and an interest rate hike is likely to come later this year. “Based on my outlook, I expect that it will be appropriate at some point later this year to take the first step to raise the federal funds rate and thus begin normalizing monetary policy,” Yellen said. Read Full Speech. Yellen will deliver the Federal Reserve’s semiannual report on monetary policy and answer questions from members of Congress at public hearings this week. --ICBA