describes economic growth these days. it s not the kind of forecast that raises alarm bells, but with unemployment still high, it may also not be enough to put more people back to work. here s what s worrying bernanke. if, in the worst of the recession, fearful employers fired too many people, they may have hired most of those workers back by now. so, with hiring slowing, the economy will need an extra jolt to really get more people back to work again. so that is the essential decision, the central question we have to look at will there be enough growth going forward to make material progress in the unemployment rate? reporter: but with interest rates already so low, fed skeptics think the central bank is out of options. bernanke disagrees. he says the fed is confident it can ease interest rates even further, though he didn t say exactly how that might be done. one thing the fed chairman almost pleaded for is help. help from congress in taking on some of the economic bur
reporter: moderate. that s how ben bernanke describes economic growth these days. it s not the kind of forecast that raises alarm bells, but with unemployment still high, it may also not be enough to put more people back to work. here s what s worrying bernanke. if, in the worst of the recession, fearful employers fired too many people, they may have hired most of those workers back by now. so, with hiring slowing, the economy will need an extra jolt to really get more people back to work again. so that is the essential decision, the central question we have to look at will there be enough growth going forward to make material progress in the unemployment rate? reporter: but with interest rates already so low, fed skeptics think the central bank is out of options. bernanke disagrees. he says the fed is confident it can ease interest rates even further, though he didn t say exactly how that might be done. one thing the fed chairman almost pleaded for is help. help from
interest rates look like today. incredibly, the stock market would like the federal reserve to push them lower. the atlanta fed president fueled those hopes today when he said: those actions include the fed s so called operation twist. this program which is scheduled to expire this month will probably be extended and or they might actually twist the twist to use the expression traders are using which would be we take operation twist and twist it away from treasuries and toward mortgages. reporter: across the pond, the european central bank opted not to lower rates, even though at 1% they re higher than the u.s. still, e.c.b. president mario draghi said some bank members had wanted a cut, leaving the door open for it to happen soon. the e.c.b. is under pressure to lower rates and add liquidity support for sick banks. but, draghi wants european governments to first do something substantial about greece and spain. when you think about the state of the u.s. economy, the sta
reporter: here s what u.s. interest rates look like today. incredibly, the stock market would like the federal reserve to push them lower. the atlanta fed president fueled those hopes today when he said: those actions include the fed s so called operation twist. this program which is scheduled to expire this month will probably be extended and or they might actually twist the twist to use the expression traders are using which would be we take operation twist and twist it away from treasuries and toward mortgages. reporter: across the pond, the european central bank opted not to lower rates, even though at 1% they re higher than the u.s. still, e.c.b. president mario draghi said some bank members had wanted a cut, leaving the door open for it to happen soon. the e.c.b. is under pressure to lower rates and add liquidity support for sick banks. but, draghi wants european governments to first do something substantial about greece and spain. when you think about the state
reporter: moderate. that s how ben bernanke describes economic growth these days. it s not the kind of forecast that raises alarm bells, but with unemployment still high, it may also not be enough to put more people back to work. here s what s worrying bernanke. if, in the worst of the recession, fearful employers fired too many people, they may have hired most of those workers back by now. so, with hiring slowing, the economy will need an extra jolt to really get more people back to work again. so that is the essential decision, the central question we have to look at will there be enough growth going forward to make material progress in the unemployment rate? reporter: but with interest rates already so low, fed skeptics think the central bank is out of options. bernanke disagrees. he says the fed is confident it can ease interest rates even further, though he didn t say exactly how that might be done. one thing the fed chairman almost pleaded for is help. help from