MarketWatch (08/31/12) Greg Robb

U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke’s speech today calls the stagnation in the U.S. labor market a grave concern. While indicating he is open to using more quantitative easing as needed to help, Bernanke is not promising to take action. He downplays the costs of quantitative easing and says the program has worked to “provide meaningful support” to the recovery. Bernanke terms current growth “tepid” and says the economy is “far from satisfactory.”

“Taking due account of the uncertainties and limits of its policy tools, the Federal Reserve will provide additional policy accommodation as needed to promote a stronger economic recovery and sustained improvement in labor market conditions in a context of price stability,” Bernanke says.