U.S. News: Report Unlikely to Alter Fed's Policy Path
Federal Reserve officials don't appear inclined to alter the course they have set out for monetary policy, despite a disappointing jobs report Friday that raised questions about the economy's underlying strength.</br></br>Central bank officials are on a path to reduce their monthly bond buying by $10 billion at coming policy meetings. At their meeting in late January, they lowered the purchases by that amount to $65 billion and will consider cutting them to $55 billion at their next meeting March 18-19.</br></br>They have said they would stick to the plan if the economy lives up to their forecasts. A weakening economy could spur them to keep the program going longer than expected, but Fed officials have said in recent weeks they are inclined to stay on track, a message one official repeated Friday.</br></br>"We don't want to be moving monetary policy very dramatically in either direction at this point unless we see strong validation in the data," Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren said in an interview after poring through the jobs report.</br></br>Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen will testify Tuesday and Thursday before Congress on the outlook for the economy and monetary policy, her first public appearance since being sworn in as the Fed's leader Monday.