Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke came close to declaring the recession over Tuesday, but warned that economic growth will remain too sluggish to quickly restore the nearly 7 million jobs lost since 2007.

He made the remarks as a string of positive economic news helped lift stock indexes to new highs for the year. Retail sales surged last month at the fastest pace in 3 1/2 years, reflecting a boost from the “cash for clunkers” auto trade-in program and a stronger-than-expected jump in back-to-school spending.

Mr. Bernanke stressed in off-the-cuff remarks to the Brookings Institution that while the signals are encouraging, growth is likely to be too slow to generate many jobs once recovery takes hold.

“Even though from a technical perspective the recession is very likely over at this point, it’s 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,” he said.

For the rest of the story, go to   Bernanke sees recession end, without jobs – Washington Times

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