Stay the course on monetary policy, Fed's Yellen (by Greg Robb)

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- There is no reason for the Federal Reserve to reverse course from its current easy monetary policy stance given the spike in commodity prices, said Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Janet Yellen on Monday. Yellen said that the high unemployment rate still called for accommodative policy. Even further shocks might not call for any substantial policy shift as long as inflation expectations remain well anchored and measures of core inflation continue to be subdued, Yellen said in a speech to the Economic Club of New York. Yellen said the Fed isn't to blame for the spike in commodity prices, noting prices have grown faster than the dollar has dropped, that prices have grown even when not traded on exchanges and that emerging market central banks aren't primarily responsible for their nations' fast growth.