Bernanke says recession is ‘very likely over’
WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday that it was "very likely" that the recession had ended although he cautioned that it would be many months before unemployment rates would drop significantly.
"From a technical perspective, the recession is very likely over at this point," he said, adding that "it’s still going to feel like a very weak economy for some time, as many people will still find that their job security and their employment status is not what they wish it was."
The cautiously optimistic assessment came at the conclusion of a speech by Bernanke at the Brookings Institution marking the anniversary of the market crisis that was precipitated by the collapse of the investment bank Lehman Brothers freecreditreport.
Bernanke said the consensus of forecasters was for moderate growth for the rest of this year and 2010.
Business cycles are officially dated by a committee of economists at the National Bureau of Economic Research. The committee often spends many months sifting through economic trends before declaring the beginning and end dates of a recession.
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