Bernanke: Fed’s efforts have helped the economy

Chairman Ben Bernanke told lawmakers today that the Federal Reserve’s efforts to bolster growth have helped lift the U.S. economy out of the Great Recession. But he acknowledged that growth remains weak and that the Fed can only do so much to accelerate it. “I don’t think it is the case that there has been no progress. The recovery has been slower than we like, but clearly we have made progress,” Bernanke told the House Financial Services Committee. Bernanke was on Capitol Hill to deliver his twice-a-year report to Congress on the state of the economy. But he spent part of the hearing defending the Fed’s previous two rounds of large-scale bond purchases against Republican criticism. Bernanke says the Fed is prepared to take further action if unemployment stays high, but didn’t specify what steps it might take or whether any action was imminent. Many economists are interpreting the remarks to mean the Fed will likely launch a third round of bond purchases, perhaps in the fall. Bernanke notes the economy—after growing at a 2.5% annual rate in the second half of 2011—slowed to roughly 2% expansion from January through March. And it likely weakened further in the April-June period. The Associated Press has the full story here.