In the not-too-distant-past, Fed watchers had to divine U.S. central bank strategy from a trickle of information.
No longer. And on Friday, there will be a firehose of Fed speakers for the markets to digest.
Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen will give her latest views on the health of the labour market at 10 a.m. Eastern on Friday. In previous speeches, Yellen has laid out a dashboard of indicators, including wages and the number of people working part time who want to work full-time, to gauge the health of the labour market.
Economists expect Yellen to note that several indicators of labor market strength, including the unemployment rate are getting better, but stick to her guns that the central bank can be patient before moving to hike interest rates.
On top of Yellen’s latest views, several regional Fed presidents will be offering their own views on the likely future path of monetary policy. The presidents have already started giving out interviews with various media outlets and more are expected Friday morning before Yellen speaks.
The minutes of the last Fed policy meeting reveal a sharpening debate at the central bank between those who want the central bank to get a move on hiking interest rates and the "core" of the committee including Yellen, who think moving too quickly would be the biggest mistake the central bank could make.
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