WASHINGTON (AP) — With employers ramping up hiring and the unemployment rate sinking in the past year, pressure is rising on Janet Yellen’s Federal Reserve: Is the time near to raise interest rates to prevent a strengthening economy from igniting inflation?

The easy answer might be yes. Employers, after all, have added an average 244,000 jobs a month since February — the best six-month hiring spree in eight years. And at 6.2 percent, the unemployment rate is just above the 6.1 percent average for the past seven decades.