The Dow Jones Industrial Average
Index |
Change |
Ending Value |
---|---|---|
Dow Jones Industrial Average | +160.90 [1.23%] | 13,241.63 |
S&P 500 |
+19.40 [1.39%] | 1,416.51 |
Speaking at the National Association for Business Economics Annual Conference, Bernanke acknowledged that the jobs market was improving but said it is far from a normal level. He highlighted long-term unemployment as a key problem our economy faces and believes it's a cyclical problem rather than a structural one. That's an important distinction, as a structural problem would suggest there is a gap between the jobs employers are offering and the skills workers have. Widespread retraining and other education programs would be important to solving the crisis.
A cyclical problem suggests that long-term unemployment is part of the business cycle and will be corrected by a strengthening of the economy. In this regard, Bernanke stated, "further significant improvements in the unemployment rate will likely require a more rapid expansion of production and demand from consumers and businesses, a process that can be supported by continued accommodative policies."
By "accommodative policies," Bernanke is referring to the kind of stimulus measures the government has been taking to boost the economy, including promising to hold the federal funds rate near zero until 2014. In response, investors bid up the Dow more than 100 points in early trading, and it remained there the rest of the day.
Top winner
Twenty-nine of 30 Dow stocks were up today, and American Express
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