by Mike Meyer
Daily Pfennig
On August 26, the entire market was sitting on pins and needles waiting to see what Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen would say. Her annual speech at the Jackson Hole economic symposium in Wyoming was all anyone cared about—and for good reason. Given all the recent mixed messages from the Fed regarding the next interest-rate hike, investors were looking for more clues.
Well, Yellen’s message was clear. “In light of the continued solid performance of the labor market and our outlook for economic activity and inflation, I believe the case for an increase in the federal funds rate has strengthened in recent months,” she said.1
Yellen also said the labor market has been improving, despite recent weakness in GDP growth. “While economic growth has not been rapid, it has been sufficient to generate further improvement in the labor market,” she added.