Bernanke not so upbeat

The Fed chairman tells Congress that "the economic outlook remains uncertain" and that the national unemployment rate is likely to remain well above 7 percent through the end of 2012 (meaning the L.A. and California numbers could remain in the double-digits). These are decidedly more cautious notes than when he testified earlier in the year. From the NYT:

Mr. Bernanke described the slow recovery of the job market as "an important drag on household spending." Private payrolls grew by about 100,000 jobs a month in the first half of the year -- a pace that Mr. Bernanke called "insufficient to reduce the unemployment rate materially." And nearly half of the unemployed have been out of work for more than six months, with serious consequences for their long-term earnings and employment prospects.

His remarks are not going over well on Wall Street, where the Dow is down 140 points. It's not only the discouraging news about jobs - Bernanke doesn't show much inclination to help boost the recovery through additional stimulus measures. In other words, a slow, painful slog towards some sort of recovery.