WASHINGTON — Chair Janet Yellen said Thursday that she expects the Federal Reserve to begin raising interest rates from record lows by the end of the year.

In a lecture at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Yellen said she thought inflation would gradually move up to the Fed’s target rate of 2 percent as low oil prices and other factors prove temporary. And she suggested that global economic weakness won’t likely be significant enough to dissuade the Fed from raising its key short-term rate from zero by December.

Yellen’s comments may help clarify doubts about the Fed’s intentions that deepened last week after its latest policy meeting ended. The Fed chose not to raise rates, citing global economic pressures and concern about excessively low inflation.

That decision raised worries that the Fed had greater concerns about economic problems in China and falling stock markets than investors had previously thought.

In her speech Thursday, Yellen said Fed officials continue to monitor economic troubles abroad. But she said officials don’t think those challenges will significantly influence the central bank’s interest-rate decisions.

Last week, Yellen had avoided saying whether she herself still thought a rate hike would be justified this year. She said she preferred to convey the collective view of the Fed’s policymaking committee, which establishes the central bank’s rate decisions. But on Thursday, Yellen included herself, saying, “Most of my colleagues and I anticipate that it will likely be appropriate to raise the target range for the federal funds rate sometime later this year.”

As she has before, Yellen stressed that when the Fed does begin raising rates, it expects the increases to be extremely gradual. The central bank has left its benchmark rate at a record low since 2008. It last raised rates in 2006.

She also emphasized that the decision still depends on further progress toward the Fed’s dual mandates: Maximizing employment and maintaining price stability, which the Fed defines as inflation rising at a modest annual pace of 2 percent.

In August, the U.S. unemployment rate reached a seven-year low of 5.1 percent, essentially achieving the Fed’s job goal. But inflation has fallen even further from the 2 percent goal.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.