WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Job scarcity in some communities and a backlog of foreclosed properties continue to inhibit the U.S. economy’s recovery, a top Fed official said on Tuesday.

Fed Governor Elizabeth Duke said although small businesses are showing more confidence, a backlog of foreclosed homes is delaying the recovery of housing markets, which in turn is holding back the broader recovery.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A top Federal Reserve official called on Thursday for a small interest rate increase by the end of the year if inflation rises as forecast, in one of the first outright calls from a policymaker to tighten monetary policy.

“Under my baseline forecast, it would be desirable for the (Fed) to raise the fed funds target interest rate by a modest amount toward the end of 2011,” Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Narayana Kocherlakota said in remarks prepared for delivery to an economics conference.

WASHINGTON, May 3 (Reuters) – A leading Democrat in the
U.S. House of Representatives has renewed efforts to weaken the
power of regional Federal Reserve banks, introducing
legislation to deprive them of any vote on monetary policy.

Representative Barney Frank, the top Democrat on the House
committee that oversees the Fed, said his proposal would tackle
“one of the greatest anomalies in our democratic system” –
allowing regional Fed bank presidents with no direct political
accountability to have a say in setting U.S. interest rates.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Banks made credit easier to get in the first quarter but small companies and consumers were less enthusiastic about borrowing than big firms, showing credit markets thawing unevenly.

The Federal Reserve’s quarterly survey of senior bank loan officers released on Monday showed the financial system continued to heal from the credit crisis that punished the economy with a deep recession.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. economy is not fully recovered from its deep recession, with housing still weighing on growth, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Friday in a speech spelling out ways the U.S. central bank has studied lower income communities.

“Our economy is far from where we would like it to be,” he said in prepared remarks to a conference.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke signalled on Wednesday that the U.S. central bank is in no rush to scale back its support for the economy with the labour 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.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke signaled on Wednesday that the U.S. 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.

WASHINGTON, April 27 (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Chairman
Ben Bernanke on Wednesday will likely use his first-ever news
conference on monetary policy to hammer home the case for a
patient approach to withdrawing the central bank’s extensive
support for the U.S. economy.

He will face the press this afternoon at the end of
a two-day policy meeting, the first time a Fed chairman has
held a regularly scheduled news conference in the central
bank’s 97-year history.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve signaled on Wednesday it is in no rush to scale back its extensive support for the U.S. economy and said a run-up in commodity prices that has dented growth should be fleeting.

The Fed’s policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement after a two-day meeting it intends to complete its $600 billion bond buying program in June as scheduled.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Wednesday will likely use his first-ever news conference on monetary policy to hammer home the case for a patient approach to withdrawing the central bank’s extensive support for the U.S. economy.

Following a two-day Fed policy meeting, Bernanke will face the press in the first regularly scheduled news conference by a Fed chairman in the central bank’s 97-year history.