U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday that although the economic recovery has weakened in recent months, growth in the world largest economy will strengthen later this year.
"U.S. economic growth so far this year looks to have been somewhat slower than expected," Bernanke said told an international banking conference in Atlanta, Georgia. "Overall, the economic recovery appears to be continuing at moderate pace, albeit at a rate that is both uneven across sectors and frustratingly slow from the perspective of millions of unemployed and underemployed workers."
He noted that the weakening economic performance in the first several months mainly reflected the higher gas prices and the Japan crises -- factors that should ease in coming months.
Latest data from the U.S. Commerce Department showed that U.S. gross domestic production, the broad measure of overall economy, grew at 1.8 percent, a much slower pace than the 3.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010.
Unemployment rate edged up to 9.1 percent in May.
"I expect hiring to pick up from last month's pace as growth strengthens in the second half of the year," he said.
The central bank chief made no mention of any new steps the Fed might take to boost the economy.
However, he noted that the economy is still producing at levels well below its potential. As a result, "accommodative monetary policies are still needed."
In tackling the worst recession after the World War II, the Federal Reserve lowered the federal fund rate to zero to 0.25 percent, the all time low level in December 2008 and has been keeping it until now.
The Fed also implemented a 600-billion-dollar Treasury bond purchasing program, the so called QE2 policy since November 2010. This widely criticized plan is scheduled to conclude at the end of this month.
Bernanke said that the central bank will complete the program.
Economists expect that the Fed will continue to keep the interest rate at historic low level. They also predict that the Fed may launch other programs to keep the low interest rate environment to foster recovery and promote growth.