Reuters reported that Federal Reserve chairman Mr Ben Bernanke signaled that the US central bank is in no rush to scale back its support for the economy with the labor market still in a very, very deep hole.

The Fed trimmed its forecast for 2011 economic growth in a nod to a weak start to the year and bumped up its projections for inflation, which caused some jitters in financial markets.

The central bank's policy setting committee said after a two day meeting it will complete the purchase of USD 600 billion in bonds in June to support the economy's recovery and said it would keep its balance sheet, currently at USD 2.67 trillion, steady for a time to ensure its support does not fade.

It also repeated it plans to keep overnight interest rates, which it has held near zero since December 2008, extraordinarily low for an extended period.

Mr Bernanke said that "It is a relatively slow recovery. The combination of high unemployment, high gas prices and high foreclosure rates is a terrible combination. A lot of people are having a tough time."

(Sourced from www.reuters.com)