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September 14, 2012

Fed Unveils Major Plan to Stimulate the Economy, Curb Unemployment 
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The Federal Reserve has unveiled a series of major steps aimed at
bolstering the U.S. economy and reducing unemployment. The Fed announced
it plans to indefinitely spend $40 billion a month to buy mortgage debt
until the job market improves significantly. It also said it likely
plans to keep key interest rates at record lows at least through the
middle of 2015. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke outlined the steps
at a news conference Thursday.

Ben Bernanke: "With inflation anticipated to run at or below our 2
percent objective, the Committee has become convinced that further
policy accommodation is warranted to strengthen the recovery and support
the gains we have begun to see in housing and other sectors. While the
economy appears to be on a path of moderate recovery, it isn't growing
fast enough to make significant progress reducing the unemployment rate.
Fewer than half of the eight million jobs lost in the recession have
been restored. And at 8.1 percent, the unemployment rate is nearly
unchanged since the beginning of the year and is well above normal
levels."