Amherst Pierpont economist Stephen..........>

US VIEW: Amherst Pierpont economist Stephen Stanley said Fed Chr Yellen's

prepared testimony to Joint Economic Committee, "quite possibly her last

Congressional appearance, was released at 8:00 this morning" and such "remarks

explicitly reflect the thinking of the FOMC as a whole and are quite consistent

with the statement and minutes from the last FOMC meeting."

- He adds that "on the economy, she notes that economic growth has picked up

momentum and has become more broad-based. She also went through various

statistics detailing the strength of the labor market. She acknowledged that

wage growth has been modest up to now, but argued that as the economy continues

to grow and the labor market continues to tighten, wages should accelerate."

- She also said on inflation, reflecting FOMC "consensus view" as "expressed in

the Nov. 1 FOMC minutes," that "the recent lower readings on inflation likely

reflect transitory factors. As these transitory factors fade, I anticipate that

inflation will stabilize around 2 percent over the medium term. However, it is

also possible that this year's low inflation could reflect something more

persistent," said Stanley.