Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress Friday that there is increasing evidence that a «self-sustaining» economic recovery is taking hold, but he said the Fed's $600 billion Treasury bond-buying program is still needed because it will take years for unemployment to drop to more normal levels, AP reported. In prepared testimony to the Senate Banking Committee, Bernanke offered a more optimistic outlook, saying the economy should grow more strongly this year as consumers and businesses boost their spending. However, he said that even with the expected improvements, it could still take four to five years for unemployment to drop to a historically normal rate of around 6 percent. Bernanke spoke one hour before the government released a disappointing employment report. U.S. employers added only 103,000 jobs in December. The unemployment rate fell to 9.4 percent partly because people gave up looking for jobs. The report suggested only slow healing in the jobs market. Many economists had forecast much bigger job gains, signaling that a crucial corner had been turned in the labor market recovery. -- SPA
