Yellen says US has experienced several decades of increasing income inequality

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen says the last several decades have seen the most sustained rise in income inequality in a century.

In a speech to a Boston conference on economic opportunity, Yellen says this problem is of great concern to her and she points to increased education and ownership of small businesses as two ways to deal with the problem.

She says that by some measurements income and wealth inequality are now at their highest levels since the 19th century. She says this is a result of significant income gains at the very top and stagnant living standards for the majority of Americans.

In her remarks, Yellen made no comments on the current state of the economy or on the future course of interest rates.