Job Creation Not Good; Bernanke Says to Give It Four or Five Years

The Labor Department has reported that the economy created 103,000 jobs last month. That’s not good. With revisions, the economy created 71,000 jobs in November and 210,000 in October.

The unemployment rate fell to 9.4%. Ben Bernanke testified before Congress this morning. Here’s the bit getting a lot of attention:

Although it is likely that economic growth will pick up this year and that the unemployment rate will decline somewhat, progress toward the Federal Reserve’s statutory objectives of maximum employment and stable prices is expected to remain slow. The projections submitted by Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) participants in November showed that, notwithstanding forecasts of increased growth in 2011 and 2012, most participants expected the unemployment rate to be close to 8 percent two years from now. At this rate of improvement, it could take four to five more years for the job market to normalize fully.