Yellen Faces Forging Consensus on Fed’s Rate Guidance

Federal Reserve officials agree that they must retool their guidance on when to consider raising interest rates. Chair Janet Yellen’s task is to forge a consensus on the new message from their disparate views.

Policy makers said they would soon have to modify their year-old commitment to keep their benchmark interest rate near zero until unemployment falls below 6.5 percent, according to minutes of their January meeting released yesterday. The minutes also showed a wide range of views on what should replace the threshold.