Bernanke: Recovery Is Weak

The Federal Reserve will not provide any additional support to boost the economy, despite recent calls by economists and historians for more government action to revive the economy, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress Wednesday. Bernanke also warned that unemployment was likely to remain at 7 percent until 2012—which could be damaging to politicians up for reelection—and said that it would be a “significant amount of time” until the 8.5 million jobs lost in the U.S. in 2008-2009 were restored. “The economic outlook remains unusually uncertain,” he said. Bernanke’s dire outlook also caused a drop in Wall Street: The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 109.43 points on the heels of his semiannual monetary-policy report. Bernanke’s statements before Congress came on the same day the Senate approved extending jobless benefits and President Barack Obama signed a sweeping financial overhaul into law.