Put another way, the practical constraint at this point for raising the policy rate is no longer the unemployment rate but the fact that we are still buying assets.
Indeed, the Committee has acknowledged that it will likely be appropriate to keep rates at their current low rates well past the time unemployment falls below  2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  6.5 percent. Therefore, in my view, the threshold has already lost its meaning as a guidepost. It needs to be replaced with something that is more relevant and informative.