WASHINGTON -- The Senate voted 94-6 late Thursday to confirm Janet Yellen to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.
Ms. Yellen, a professor at the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley, is President Clinton's second nominee to the seven-member board.
With her confirmation, the Fed board is at full strength for the first time since February.
Ms. Yellen, along with recently confirmed Fed vice chairman Alan Blinder, is expected to tilt the Fed somewhat toward growth in its monetary policy decisions.
The Fed has raised interest rates four times since February because of concerns that the economy's renewed growth could lead to inflation.
At a Senate confirmation hearing last month, Ms. Yellen said fighting inflation should be "a central goal of monetary policy," but underscored the Fed's responsibility to keep unemployment down.
Sen. Paul Sarbanes, D-Md., an outspoken Fed critic, used the Yellen nomination to challenge the agency to be more open about its operations.
"The Fed ought to lay out the strategy it's taking," Sen. Sarbanes said. "It's obviously a subject for reasonable debate."
-- Dow Jones
