WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s likely choice of Janet Yellen to become vice chairman of the Federal Reserve would favor a policy that stresses low interest rates to ease unemployment over higher rates to curb inflation.
Obama is also considering filling two other Fed vacancies with officials who would boost its ranks of Ph.D. economists and deepen its expertise over financial regulation.
Altogether, the choices would allow Obama to put a bigger stamp on the central bank.
If nominated by Obama and confirmed by the Senate, the three would serve at the Fed during a delicate time: Making sure the recovery from the worst and longest recession since the 1930s becomes firmly rooted.
High unemployment, rising home foreclosures and hard-to-get credit pose a political headache for Obama and his Democratic Party as they face congressional elections this year.
Yellen, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, is a leading contender to take over as vice chairman of the Fed, Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said Friday.
Yellen, who was a top adviser to President Bill Clinton, is considered a dove on monetary policy. That means she would be expected to be concerned more about high unemployment than about rising inflation.
