US recovery continues

The chief of the US central bank says the US economy is continuing to recover, but the growth has been bumpy and modest.



In an update to Congress, Chairman of the US Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke said the decline in unemployment has been more rapid than expected.



He said for much of last year, the jobless rate was stuck around 9 per cent, but it started dropping at the end of last year and hit 8.3 per cent in January.



In his speech, the Fed Chairman said that the labour market remains far from normal.



Sources say the speech contained no hints that Bernanke is planning to boost the economy by buying up government bonds.