Bernanke dice que se necesitan mas politicas que acomoden a la economia para rebajar el desempleo, es prometedor que el desempleo haya bajado a 8.3%.
La caida en el desempleo refleja la reversion de los grandes despidos ocurridos al final del 2008 y en el 2009, se podrian ver mas mejoras hasta que este proceso se complete, pero para ver mejroas significativas en el desempleo se requiere una expansion mas rapida de la produccion y de la demanda por parte de los negocios y consumidores, para que esto ocurra sera necesario aplicar medidas que acomoden y le den soporte a la economia. Estamos muy pero muy debajo de lo normal, como se aprecia en el alto desempleo y el numero de horas trabajadas.
No estamos seguros de que las mejoras vistas en el empleo son sostenibles.
Bernanke Says Accommodative Policy Needed to Cut Joblessness
By Steve Matthews and Jeff Kearns - Mar 26, 2012 8:13 AM ET
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said while he’s encouraged by the unemployment rate’s decline to 8.3 percent, continued accommodative monetary policy will be needed to make further progress.
The decline in unemployment may reflect “a reversal of the unusually large layoffs that occurred during late 2008 and over 2009,” Bernanke said in a speech today in Arlington, Virginia. “To the extent that this reversal has been completed, further significant improvements in the unemployment rate will likely require a more-rapid expansion of production and demand from consumers and businesses, a process that can be supported by continued accommodative policies.”
upgraded its assessment of the economic outlook at its March 13 meeting, while repeating that high unemployment and subdued inflation are likely to warrant exceptionally low interest rates at least through late 2014. More stimulus may not be warranted with the economy strengthening, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard and Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said March 23.
“A wide range of indicators suggests that the job market has been improving, which is a welcome development indeed,” Bernanke said to the National Association for Business Economics. “Still, conditions remain far from normal, as shown, for example, by the high level of long-term unemployment and the fact that jobs and hours worked remain well below pre-crisis peaks, even without adjusting for growth in the labor force.”
Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring in June rose 0.6 percent to 1,402.2 at 8:10 a.m. New York time.
Jobs Created
About 1.2 million jobs were created in the past six months, the most since the same period ended May 2006, Labor Department figures show. The unemployment rate held in February at a three- year-low of 8.3 percent.
“We cannot yet be sure that the recent pace of improvement in the labor market will be sustained,” Bernanke said, adding he was particularly concerned about the number people out of work for six months or longer.
While some Fed officials have argued that structural reasons, such as a poor match between jobs and worker skills, are to blame for an increasing part of unemployment, Bernanke said he believes otherwise.
“While cyclical and structural forces have doubtless contributed to the increase in long-term unemployment, the continued weakness in aggregate demand is likely the predominant factor,” he said.
Evans, Dudley
Bernanke’s concern over unemployment has been echoed by other Fed officials. While economic reports have improved, it is “far too soon to conclude that we are out of the woods” and “nothing has been decided” on more bond purchases, New York Fed President William C. Dudley said March 19. Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said March 22 that “clearly, more accommodation would be appropriate” with unemployment too high.
Figures from the Labor Department showed jobless claims decreased by 5,000 to 348,000 in the week ended March 17, the fewest since February 2008.
Bernanke, 58, a former economics professor at Princeton University, has drawn lessons from the Great Depression in taking unconventional actions following the 2008 financial crisis. The Fed has held interest rates near zero since 2008 and purchased $2.3 trillion in bonds to spur growth after unemployment rose to as high as 10 percent in 2009.
The U.S. economy expanded at a 3 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter, the fastest pace in more than a year, as households spent more freely. Growth will probably slow to 2 percent this quarter, according to the median of 72 economists’ forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey from March 9 to March 13.
To contact the reporters on this story: Steve Matthews in Atlanta at
smatthews@bloomberg.net;
Jeff Kearns in Washington