Bernanke press conference june 7 2011 in Atlanta : Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will be in Atlanta today to talk about the economy. He is scheduled to deliver a speech to the International Monetary Conference at the Ritz-Carlton in Buckhead,Mr Bernanke is giving a speech in Atlanta to a banking conference. It represents his first remarks on the US economy since April, when he said temporary factors like high gas prices were largely to blame for weaker growth at the start of the year.
Economists don't expect Mr Bernanke to deviate from that position or signal any further action from the Federal Reserve.'It's going to be steady as she goes. Mr Bernanke will argue that his current game plan for the economy is just what is needed,' said Mr Sung Won Sohn, an economics professor at the Martin Smith School of Business at California State University.
Bernanke Speaking to a group of international bankers in Atlanta,
Speaking to a group of international bankers in Atlanta, Bernanke said the recovery in the US economy is "uneven" and "frustratingly slow" but should pick up in the second half of 2011.
Bernanke said US interest rates would remain low for some time to come but the government's $600bn (£365bn) "quantitative easing" (QE2) stimulus plan would run out this month as planned.
Aggressive budget cuts "could be self-defeating if it were to undercut the still-fragile recovery," he said.
"The solution to this dilemma, I believe, lies in recognising that our nation's fiscal problems are inherently long-term in nature. Consequently, the appropriate response is to move quickly to enact a credible, long-term plan for fiscal consolidation," said Bernanke.
The recovery was clearly being held back by the troubled jobs and housing markets but there were indications that petrol prices would fall and the impact of Japan's nuclear disaster on manufacturing was on the wane, he said.
"Overall, the economic recovery appears to be continuing at a moderate pace, albeit at a rate that is both uneven across sectors and frustratingly slow from the perspective of millions of unemployed and underemployed workers."
A spate of weak economic data was capped by a report last week that showed the US added only 54,000 jobs in May, the fewest since September last year. The unemployment rate in May rose to 9.1%, from 9% in April. The parlous nature of the US jobs market was underlined once more on Tuesday as the labour department reported that businesses had fewer job openings in April with employers posting 3m ads for jobs in April, down from 3.1m in March.
"US economic growth so far this year looks to have been somewhat slower than expected," Bernanke said. "A number of indicators also suggest some loss in momentum in labour markets in recent weeks," he added.
"The housing sector typically plays an important role in economic recoveries; the depressed state of housing in the United States is a big reason that the current recovery is less vigorous than we would like," he said. For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today
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