NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
The head of the Federal Reserve is testifying before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday. Originally scheduled for two weeks ago, the hearing was postponed due to a snow storm in Washington.
Yellen's prepared remarks are expected to be identical to those she delivered two weeks ago before the House Financial Services Committee, but the Q&A session is where things could get interesting.
Data released since then have pointed to continued weakness in the U.S. economy. Retail sales, home construction and factory production all declined more than expected in January.
Experts generally believe the economy has hit a temporary soft patch due to harsh winter weather. If that's the case, there's not much reason to worry: Economists expect things to pick up again in the spring. They'll be closely listening to see if Yellen subscribes to that same theory.
In her prior testimony, Yellen stressed that she expects "a great deal of continuity" in Fed policy following in the footsteps of previous Chairman Ben Bernanke. Investors were encouraged by that message, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed about 190 points that day.
The Fed is winding down its bond-buying program. Whereas the central bank had previously been buying $85 billion in bonds each month, the Fed cut its purchases to $75 billion in January, and then to $65 billion in February.
In her testimony two weeks ago, Yellen said the Fed plans to continue contracting the stimulus program "in further measured steps at future meetings." The Fed's next meeting is scheduled for March 18-19. She also reiterated that the Fed intends to keep its key interest rate near zero "well past the time" the unemployment rate falls to 6.5%.
Related: Fed debated how to signal a rate hike
The unemployment rate came awfully close to that level in January, when it fell to 6.6%. Minutes released from the Fed's January meeting have since shown that the officials are discussing a new communications strategy, given the unemployment rate has neared their goal but still the economy seems weaker than they would like.
Some members also believe the Fed should stress that it intends to keep interest rates low, as long as inflation remains below its long-run goal of 2% a year. Lately, the Fed's preferred measure of inflation has been persistently low, hovering around 1.2% as of January. 
First Published: February 27, 2014: 9:59 AM ET
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