Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said today that the Fed has lowered its expectations for economic growth and called on Congress to address budget deficits and economic troubles, The Washington Post reported.
 
Testifying before the Joint Economic Committee in Congress, Bernanke urged political leaders to put a plan in place that would reduce deficits over time, adding that the deficit reduction targets the congressional supercommitee is putting into place will not be enough to make the nation’s finances sustainable.
 
“Overall, the recovery from the crisis has been much less robust than we had hoped,” Bernanke said.
 
He also offered little hope on the jobs front.
 
“Recent indicators, including new claims for unemployment insurance and surveys of hiring plans, point to the likelihood of more sluggish job growth in the period ahead,” he said.
 
The Fed chief did encourage Congress to work together to “improve the process” for making budget decisions.
 
Two weeks ago, the Fed took new action to boost the economy by pledging to shift $400 billion of its bond holdings out of shorter-term bonds and into longer-term bonds to reduce mortgage borrowing rates.