Bernanke told lawmakers there was reason to be suspicious of the recent decline in unemployment given the weakness of economic growth.
"There's still a bit of a contradiction between the improvement in the labor market and the speed of the overall recovery," Bernanke said in a second day of testimony to Congress. "You've still got consumption spending growing relatively weakly."
Two of the Fed's regional presidents, Sandra Pianalto of Cleveland and Dennis Lockhart of Atlanta, also cited the economy's shaky stance, with Pianalto signaling that policy was appropriate for the current environment.
"There'd have to be a significant change to my outlook to change my position on policy at this time," she said in rare press briefing.
The Fed had held interest rates near zero since December 2008 and has vowed to maintain ultra-low rates at least through late 2014. The U.S. central bank has also made $2.3 trillion in asset purchases in a bid to drive down rates and stimulate growth. Many financial market observers have been watching closely to see if the Fed will signal a new round of assets purchases, known as quantitative easing.
U.S. gross domestic product grew 3 percent in the fourth quarter, but data on Thursday pointed to a stagnation in consumer spending.
Bernanke suggested the divergence is in part due to a recovery that has boosted profits more than wages. "Profit share of GDP is unusually high, the share of income going to wage earners is lower than normal," Bernanke said.
The remainder of his testimony was mostly a rehash of recent themes. Bernanke told Congress that it needs to develop a long-term plan to bring down U.S. budget deficits. But at the same time, he says an expected tightening of fiscal policy scheduled for early 2013 could derail the recovery.
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