LIFTOFF

Yellen: Interest Rate on Track for Raise

Argues for later this year.

Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen on Thursday said the U.S. central bank was on track to raise interest rates later this year for the first time in nearly a decade, as long as inflation remains steady and the U.S. economy was stable enough for employment growth. Speaking at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, the Fed chief’s nearly hour-long presentation was briefly overshadowed when she began coughing and struggled to finish her speech. The 69-year-old received medical attention after she lost her place in the final moments of her speech. Yellen “felt dehydrated at the end of a long speech under the bright lights,” Fed spokeswoman Michelle Smith said in an email. She continued her evening schedule afterward, Smith added.