Posted on 03/01/2012 2:09:34 AM PST by U-238
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Wednesday offered a tempered view of the U.S. economy, pouring cold water on the notion that recent upbeat signs herald a stronger recovery.
Bernanke told Congress that unless growth accelerated, the unacceptably high U.S. unemployment rate would not keep dropping.
But he stopped short of signaling further Fed bond purchases, dashing the hopes of some traders in financial markets who were betting on more monetary stimulus.
"The job market is far from normal," Bernanke said. "Continued improvement ... is likely to require stronger growth in final demand and production."
The swift decline in the U.S. unemployment rate in recent months, to a three-year low of 8.3 percent in January from 9.1 percent in August, has surprised economists both within and outside the Fed given the economy's relatively soft performance.
"The decline in the unemployment rate over the past year has been somewhat more rapid than might have been expected, given that the economy appears to have been growing during that time frame at or below its longer-term trend," Bernanke told the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
FYI: Ben Bernanke’s term as Federal Reserve chairmanship term ends in January of 2014
Ben not carrying the Media’s story that we are in a recovery.
Good point
Total BS.
First 8.3 (If it was a real number) is nothing to brag about.
The real number is somewhere between 12-20%. You are only counted on the unemployment roll if you are getting an unemployment check. If you exhaust your benefits, then you are considered employed, or not counted as unemployed. If you get a part time job then you are considered employed.
I agree with you.
LLS
Cooked books. Come on, Bernanke, when people give up looking en masse we both know the rate drops.
To my knowledge no one tried to explain the massive drop in black unemployment in one month. Did anyone see speculation?
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