WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The following are highlights of Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's press conference on Wednesday following the end of the U.S. central bank's March 18-19 meeting on monetary policy.
YELLEN ON LOWER INTEREST RATES
"The statement continues to note that in deciding on the pace for removing accommodation, the committee will take a balanced approach to attaining its objectives."
"The statement now adds the committee's current anticipation: that even after employment and inflation are near mandate-consistent levels, economic conditions may, for some time, warrant keeping short-term interest rates below levels the committee views as normal in the longer run."
"This guidance is consistent with the paths for appropriate policy as reported in the participants' projections, which show the federal funds rate for most participants remaining well below longer-run normal values at the end of 2016."
ON IMPACT OF FINANCIAL CRISIS
"Although FOMC participants provide a number of explanations for the federal funds rate target remaining below its longer-run normal level, many cite the residual impacts of the financial crisis, and some note that the potential growth rate of the economy may be lower at least for a time."
YELLEN ON LABOR MARKET
"Labor market conditions have continued to improve. The unemployment rate at 6.7 percent is three-tenths lower than the data available at the time of the December meeting."
"Further, broader measures of unemployment such as the U6 measure, which includes marginally attached workers and those working part time but preferring full-time work, have fallen even more than the headline unemployment rate over this period. And labor force participation is ticked up."
YELLEN ON IMPACT OF WEATHER ON ECONOMY
"Unusually harsh weather in January and February has made assessing the underlying strength of the economy especially challenging. Broadly speaking, however, the spending and production data, while somewhat weaker than we had expected in January, are roughly in line with our expectations as of December, the last time committee participants submitted economic projections."
(Compiled by Washington bureau)