"At the rate we're going, it could be four, five years before we are back to a more normal unemployment rate," Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told 60 Minutes in an interview to air Sunday night, according to a transcript released by CBS.
The 60 Minutes broadcast comes just a couple days after the government released a jobs report bringing two downbeat surprises: the economy added only 39,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate rose to 9.8%.
Stubbornly high unemployment is one reason Bernanke is standing by the Fed's recent controversial decision to initiate a $600 billion bond-buying program, its second round of so-called quantitative easing or QE2. It is meant to stimulate the economy by keeping interest rates low and encouraging consumers to spend more and businesses to create jobs.
Ben Bernanke On 60 Minutes
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