Yellen Faces Challenges as Fed Trims Bond Buys

WASHINGTON (AP) — Janet Yellen will take the helm of a Federal Reserve facing a significantly different economic landscape than the one that dominated Ben Bernanke's tenure as chairman.

The Senate confirmed Yellen to the top Fed post on Monday by 56-26. She begins her four-year term Feb. 1.

Bernanke's eight years leading the Fed were largely consumed with the Great Recession and his efforts to cure it by pushing down interest rates and pumping cash into the economy.

Many economists think Yellen's challenge will be deciding how to ease off some of those policies, which she supported.

Yellen has been Fed vice chair since 2010. As a long-time Fed official and economist, she has focused partly on unemployment, which many Democrats see as a sign that she will help working people.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.