Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said that the pace of US economic growth is very weak. According to the official, 2.5% growth is needed only to keep unemployment stable.

Last month the unemployment rate rose from 9.6% in October to the maximum since April at 9.8%, while the number of new jobs was just 39,000 a month. Bernanke warned that if everything remains in the current state, a more normal unemployment rate of 5-6% will be reached only in 4-5 years.

As a result, it’s quite possible that the Fed will increase bond purchases from $600 billion as it was announced in November, claimed Bernanke in his interview to CBS. The decision will be taking according to the efficiency of purchase program and the outlook for economy and inflation.

There’s a political disaccord in the United States on the problem – Republican lawmakers are against quantitative easing as they believe it will stimulate inflation and won’t help to cut unemployment. Moreover, American quantitative easing has found a lot of critics in the world – from such countries as China and Germany and from emerging nations.

Specialists at Westpac Banking Corp. note that as Bernanke was defending his decisions to a mass American audience on television, weak dollar isn’t the objective of US monetary authorities, but a side effect of quantitative easing necessary to support the country’s economy.

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