Bernanke: Unemployment Could Undercut Economic Recovery

By Mark Felsenthal and Alister Bull, Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke Tuesday said the outlook for the long-suffering U.S. economy was improving, but supportive policies would be needed for some time to prevent rising unemployment from undercutting recovery.

Delivering the Fed's semiannual report on the economy to Congress, Bernanke also sought to dispel concerns the U.S. central bank's aggressive monetary easing could end up fueling inflation, saying he was confident the Fed could pull back its extraordinary stimulus when the time was right.

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