Testimony Chairman Ben S. Bernanke Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress

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Testimony
Chairman Ben S. Bernanke
Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress
Before the Before the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C.

Chairman Dodd, Senator Shelby, and members of the Committee, I appreciate the opportunity to discuss monetary policy and the economic situation and to present the Federal Reserve's Monetary Policy Report to the Congress.

Recent Economic and Financial Developments and the Policy Responses
As you are aware, the U.S. economy is undergoing a severe contraction. Employment has fallen steeply since last autumn, and the unemployment rate has moved up to 7.6 percent. The deteriorating job market, considerable losses of equity and housing wealth, and tight lending conditions have weighed down consumer sentiment and spending. In addition, businesses have cut back capital outlays in response to the softening outlook for sales as well as the difficulty of obtaining credit. In contrast to the first half of last year, when robust foreign demand for U.S. goods and services provided some offset to weakness in domestic spending, exports slumped in the second half as our major trading partners fell into recession and some measures of global growth turned negative for the first time in more than 25 years. In all, U.S. real gross domestic product (GDP) declined slightly in the third quarter of 2008, and that decline steepened considerably in the fourth quarter. The sharp contraction in economic activity appears to have continued into the first quarter of 2009.

Full Testimony here.