The head of the U. S. Central Bank says the key driver of the U. S. economy is [

The U. S. Labor Department says the number of new claims for unemployment benefits rose last week, reversing a decline in new claims from the week before.
    Thursday’s report said new jobless claims increased by 37,000 to 464,000 in the week ending July 17. The report also said the number of people who continue to receive unemployment benefits fell slightly, to about 4. 5 million.
(7) On Wednesday, the head of the U. S. Central Bank told lawmakers that the outlook for the world’s biggest economy is "unusually uncertain," hurt by a weak iob market that has limited consumer spending, which is a key driver of the U. S. economy.
(8) Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke also warned it will likely take a "significant amount of time" to restore the more than eight million jobs lost during the recession.
    Bernanke said the central bank would continue to keep the country’s key interest rate near zero percent in an effort to help spark economic growth and that the Fed is ready to take additional actions if necessary. But he also said all of the Fed’s remaining options come with potential drawbacks.