be substantially reduced if a smaller share of the multi - hundred - trillion - dollar derivatives market was referencing it. some possible alternatives include rates based on the u. s. treasury market or rates based on the secured funding markets that have replaced much of the borrowing banks used to do in the unsecured interbank market. the federal reserve is not seeking to dictate the particular rate that financial markets adopt. instead, we will encourage key market participants to further the work done by the fsb ’ s mpg by narrowing down the list of alternatives and developing them into robust reference rates that meet agreed - upon international standards and best practices. 12 there are enough suggestions on the mpg ’ s list to inspire confidence that we should be able to find common ground. any alternative would, of course, need to be in accord with the iosco principles mentioned earlier, and some potential alternatives would take time to fully develop. but the establishment of alternative reference rates for certain products is in our shared interests and would substantially strengthen the financial system. we are strongly committed that at least one such rate be developed and actively used as soon as practicable. and we look forward to working with financial institutions and other market participants to achieve this end. in the near term, the federal reserve, along with other government agencies, intends to meet with a wide range of market participants, including end users, to hear their views as to how change can be effected and to begin the work of developing alternatives to libor. later this year, we will convene a group of the largest global dealers to discuss these issues, following a model that was successfully used to promote derivatives reform. searching for potential alternative rates and encouraging their use will be a key point of that discussion. of course, end users will be affected by these changes as well, and we will also consult closely with key participants outside of the dealer community to make sure that reform meets their needs and is not disruptive to them. in particular, end users who want to continue to use libor will certainly be able to do so, and we will work toward the goal of ensuring that any changes to libor will not require borrowers or lenders to amend their existing contracts. and the markets that reference dollar libor are so enormous that there will surely be more than enough liquidity to support both a new risk free rate as well as libor itself. one of the lessons that i take from our study of libor is that these existing legacy

revised upward, as was the estimate for july. these revisions added 69, 000 more jobs. in all, employers have added more than 2 million jobs thus far in 2014, at an average pace of 227, 000 per month through september. the unemployment rate fell to 5. 9 percent, marking its lowest level since july 2008 and well below the 6. 7 percent we experienced in december 2013. even the broader u6 measure, which includes discouraged workers and involuntary part - time workers, dropped to 11. 8 percent, its lowest since october 2008 and down from 13. 1 percent in december 2013. the unemployment rate continues to fall faster than many policymakers had been forecasting. for instance, in the summary of economic projections ( sep ) submitted in december 2013, the central tendency of fomc participants was an unemployment rate of 6. 3 to 6. 6 percent at the end of 2014, and by the end of 2015, the central tendency was expected to be 5. 8 to 6. 1 percent. we have clearly exceeded these expectations. the unemployment rate is now below where the committee thought it would be at the end of 2014 and is now within the range expected at the end of 2015. thus, it is fair to say that we are at least a year ahead of where we thought we would be when we started to taper asset purchases. in fact, in september, the central tendency was lowered yet again to 5. 9 from 6. 0 percent for 2014 and to 5. 4 from 5. 6 percent by the end of 2015. we reached our yearend number for 2014 weeks later. how soon will we reach the year - end 2015 number? in pennsylvania, job growth has been positive as well. the state added more than 47, 000 jobs over the past 12 months. the august unemployment rate in pennsylvania was 5. 8 percent, down 1. 6 points from a year ago and down from a peak of 8. 7 percent immediately following the recession. this is not to claim that all is rosy in the labor markets. many americans remain frustrated and disappointed in their jobs and job prospects. for example, a large contingent of those working part time for economic reasons would like to be working full time. nonetheless, we have to acknowledge that significant progress has been made. inflation remains somewhat below the fomc ’ s long - run goal of 2 percent, but it appears to be drifting upward. headline inflation as measured by year - over - year change in the consumer price