WASHINGTON — The US economic recovery remains on track and the country should avoid falling back into the depths of recession, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said.
"So far it is pretty good," Bernanke said of the slow road out of the downturn that has gripped the United States since late 2007, "we will have a continued recovery."
His upbeat comments come as investors are increasing uneasy about the prospect of a jobless recovery, a sentiment fueled by recent disappointing unemployment figures for May, which showed the private sector continues to be wary about hiring.
"There are some signs that the private sector... is moving the economy forward," Bernanke told a Washington event hosted by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
"There seems to be a good momentum in consumer spending and investment."
But, he admitted, "unemployment will stay high for some time."
The US unemployment rate currently stands at 9.7 percent.
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