Yellen becomes first woman to lead the US Fed

Federal Reserve vice chair Janet Yellen becomes the first woman to lead the US Fed, after the Senate confirmed her appointment Monday. Yellen earned bipartisan support in the chamber, earning 56 votes. She replaces Ben Bernanke, who steps down on January 31 after eight years in the job. Yellen, a 67-year-old academic economist, has a long-term interest in the impact of joblessness on the economy, and has helped keep Fed policy focused on bringing down the unemployment rate. But Yellen encountered resistance from several Republicans concerned with what they described as the Fed’s policy of “easy money.”

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