Jobs hiring must pick up further to ensure recovery

Jobs Hiring

Jobs hiring must pick up further to ensure recovery

Jobs hiring must increase over a relatively longer period of time to ensure a stable recovery of the U.S. economy according to Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve in a speech made before the National Press Club.

Bernanke confirmed that the economy is showing signs of improving and will grow at a quicker pace this year as businesses look to expand and consumer spending rises. But the Fed chairman also said gains will be erased if hiring does not increase.

"Until we see a sustained period of stronger job creation, we cannot consider the recovery to be truly established," Bernanke said. He added that the high 9.4 percent unemployment rate will return to normal levels of around 5.5 to 6 percent only after "several years" despite strong efforts.

The Fed is going ahead with a plan to buy $600 billion of bonds through June to rev up the economy. Bernanke also urged lawmakers and the administration to work together on a plan to slash huge budget deficits.

"If government debt and deficits were actually to grow at the pace envisioned, the economic and financial effect would be severe," Bernanke warned.

Bernanke's remarks were made a day before the release of a Labor Department jobs report for January. Analysts predict the report will show that joblessness rose from 9.4 percent in December to 9.5 percent in January. New jobs probably reached 146,000 for the month.

The drop in unemployment claims was highlighted by Bernanke who said that he is more optimistic that companies will hire more workers this year as reflected in upcoming job reports.

Posted by on Friday February 04 2011, 4:54 AM EST. Ref: AP. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Finance. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0

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