federal reserve

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke says that without faster economic growth, it could take "a few more years" for unemployment to decline to a normal rate.

The Federal Reserve sounded a note of positive economic optimism Tuesday in announcing they will hold off on any new stimulative steps.

The Federal Reserve offered a more positive view of the economy after a burst of hiring since its last meeting. It held off taking further steps to boost the recovery.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told lawmakers Wednesday that the economy has performed better in recent months than the Federal Reserve had expected. If the trend continues, he said the Fed might have to reassess its outlook for a slow recovery.

The Federal Reserve went further than ever Wednesday to assure consumers and businesses that they'll be able to borrow cheaply well into the future.

Ben Bernanke presided over his first meeting as Federal Reserve chairman in March 2006 believing the nation could achieve a "soft landing" from falling home prices. Three months later, Bernanke had begun to grasp that he and others might have underestimated the risk housing posed to the economy.

The Federal Reserve will start updating the public four times a year on how long it plans to keep short-term interest rates at record lows, according to minutes from its December policy meeting.

President Barack Obama is nominating a Harvard University professor and a former Treasury official under President George H.W. Bush to the Federal Reserve Board.

Expansion, but "frustratingly slow expansion" in the next two years.  So says the Federal Reserve in deciding to put off any new action to spur the economy.

The Federal Reserve sketched a picture Wednesday of an economy that's strengthened since nearly stalling in the spring. As a result, it's putting off any new actions so it can gauge the impact of steps it's already taken.