By Brandon Kosters - Talk Radio News Service
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke delivered his Semi-annual Monetary Policy Report to Congress today. Bernanke predicted an unemployment rate between 7-7.5 % by the end of 2012, and a GDP increase of 3-3.5% by the end of this year, with marginal increases over the course of the next two years.
He said that inflation is currently less than 1%, and does not expect it to increase signifigantly over the course of the next two years.
Bernanke expressed concern over the nation’s current high unemployment rate of 9.5%, and the degree to which it has limited household spending.
Bernanke added that in addition to its immediate adverse effects, short-term unemployment can easily lead to long-term unemployment, as workers’ skills “erode,” and certain skill-sets become economically obsolete.