REUTERS/Jim Bourg
New Federal Reserve Board Chairwoman Janet Yellen smiles as her husband, Nobel economics laureate George Akerlof (R), applauds her after she took the oath of office at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, February 3, 2014.
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Fed Chair Janet Yellen is testifying before the House Financial Services Committee.
"Let me emphasize that I expect a great deal of continuity in the FOMC's approach to monetary policy," she said in her prepared remarks. "I served on the Committee as we formulated our current policy strategy and I strongly support that strategy, which is designed to fulfill the Federal Reserve's statutory mandate of maximum employment and price stability."
Yellen acknowledged that the labor market continues to stink.
"The recovery in the labor market is far from complete," she said. "The unemployment rate is still well above levels that Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) participants estimate is consistent with maximum sustainable employment. Those out of a job for more than six months continue to make up an unusually large fraction of the unemployed, and the number of people who are working part time but would prefer a full-time job remains very high. These observations underscore the importance of considering more than the unemployment rate when evaluating the condition of the U.S. labor market."
The promise of loose monetary policy for a long time was quite explicit.
"[I]t likely will be appropriate to maintain the current target range for the federal funds rate well past the time that the unemployment rate declines below 6-1/2 percent, especially if projected inflation continues to run below the 2 percent goal," she said.
Follow our live coverage of Yellen's testimony at BusinessInsider.com.