Bernanke Meets The Press - Fed Reserve

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke held the first public press conference in the history of the Federal Reserve yesterday, in an attempt to bring more transparency to the central bank (which faced its first ever audit last year). "I've personally always been a believer in providing as much information as you can," Bernanke told the gathered press. The conference was held just hours after the Federal Reserve Board announced that it will end its program of quantitative easing (QE2) -- aimed at boosting the sluggish economy -- on schedule in June, due to its assessment that "the economic recovery is proceeding at a moderate pace and overall conditions in the labor market are improving gradually." However, at the same time, the Fed revised its projections for economic growth downward. Previously, the Fed had estimated that growth this year would be between 3.4 and 3.9 percent, but now it is only predicting growth at 3.1 to 3.3 percent, due to contractions in exports, construction spending and military spending. The Bureau of Economic Analysis announced today that first quarter growth registered at just 1.8 percent. And while most of the questions during the conference centered on Bernanke's views on inflation, gas prices, and the nation's deficit, little time was spent on arguably the most pressing problem facing the country: continued high unemployment.