Changing technologies and globalization had put a premium on completing a college education in order to get and keep higher-paying jobs, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said on Monday.

In her first speech since the central bank raised interest rates last week, Yellen said in a commencement address to students at the University of Baltimore that technology had allowed low-skilled jobs to be replaced by automation while globalization had also caused jobs to move overseas.

She was moderately optimistic about job prospects in the US in the years ahead even though the economy was growing slowly.

Key to success

She told graduates that "after years of economic recovery, you are entering the strongest job market in nearly a decade."

Yellen noted that college graduates' annual earnings last year were on average 70 percent higher than those secured by people with a high school diploma.

"Economists are not certain about many things," she remarked. "But we are quite certain that a college diploma or an advanced degree is a key to economic success."

hg/jd (Reuters, AFP)