U.S. Fed chair says job market strongest in decade

U.S. Federal Reserve Janet Yellen said on Monday that slow economic recovery boosted the job market improvement, and emphasized the importance of education in a changing economy.

"After years of a slow economic recovery, you are entering the strongest job market in nearly a decade," Yellen told graduating students at the University of Baltimore on Monday.

She cited the low unemployment rate, steady job gains, low layoff rate and signs of rising wages as the evidence of healthy labor market.

The central bank chair didn't discuss the monetary policy in her speech. U.S. Fed last week raised the benchmark interest rate after one-year pause, and indicated its confidence in the economy.

In her speech on Monday, Yellen stressed the importance of education in helping people get a job.

"While globalization will likely continue and technology will continue to advance, we don't know how fast the economy will grow, what new technologies will be developed, or how quickly and consistently employment will expand," Yellen said."What is considerably more certain, however, is that success will continue to be tied to education, in part because a good education enhances one's ability to adapt to a changing economy."

At many occasions, Yellen has called for more investment in education to boost productivity, as the productivity growth in U.S. remained low for years, which has affected the wage growth and weighted on the improvement of people's living standards. Enditem