The European crisis may have been born of American finance, but today the recovery of the USA is slowing down precisely because of the old overseas cousins. To the point that, in the second quarter of 2012, the stars and stripes GDP growth remained below 2%. This is the message launched today by Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, speaking before the Senate Banking Committee. However, the number one of the Fed has disappointed the expectations of the markets, giving no indication of possible new moves by the Central Bank to support the economy. Mid-afternoon the indices of the American Stock Exchange are all traveling in the red: the Nasdaq lost 0,77%, the Dow Jones 0,57% and the Standard & Poor's 500 0,56%.
“The US economy has continued its recovery – Bernanke said -, but economic activity seems to have decelerated somewhat during the first half of this year”. American households "remain concerned about their employment and income prospects, and their overall level of confidence remains relatively low."
For the central banker, the crisis in the Eurozone continues to represent a risk factor and an "element of stress for the global and American economy", even if the European problems "have diminished" thanks to constructive actions undertaken by the Brussels authorities.
“Despite the latest announcements – continued Bernanke, referring to the anti-spread shield and direct loans from the ESM fund to banks -, European markets and economies remain under considerable pressure, with repercussions on financial and economic conditions in the rest of the world , including the US. More, the possibility that the situation in Europe will worsen further remains a significant risk to the outlook."
In any case, in addition to the European problems, the slowdown in American activity in the first part of the year was also affected by the unemployment, which has remained at too high levels. Bernanke then assured that the Fed is ready to do more to help create new jobs.
