Fed Chief Dampens Recovery Expectations

The country's economic health won't snap back quickly even if badly needed confidence in the U.S. financial system returns and roiled markets finally calm, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke cautioned Wednesday.

"Stabilization of the financial markets is a critical first step, but even if they stabilize as we hope they will, broader economic recovery will not happen right away," Bernanke said in prepared remarks to the Economic Club of New York.

Meanwhile, the country has sunk deeper into an economic rut, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday.

The Fed's latest snapshot of business conditions around the nation showed the economy continued to lose traction in the early fall, reflecting mounting damage as financial and credit problems worsened.

Economic activity weakened across all of the Fed's 12 regional districts, according to the report. Consumer spending - the lifeblood of the economy - slumped in most Fed regions. Manufacturing also slowed in most areas.

Bernanke said the government's new powers under the $700 billion financial bailout package signed into law two weeks ago should help reduce risks to the economy.

Prior to his speech, a report on U.S. retailers dropped in September showed sales at a two-year low. Uncertainty about the economy - and their own financial fortunes - probably will force consumers and businesses alike to hunker down further, spelling more problems for the already troubled economy.

And on Wall Street, stocks remained down, plummeting during afternoon trading.

Tapping that new authority, the Treasury Department announced Tuesday that it will inject up to $250 billion in U.S. banks in return for partial ownership. It is hoped that banks will use the cash infusion to rebuild their reserves and lend money more freely to businesses and consumers.

The government also plans to buy rotten mortgages and other bad debts held by banks, another new power granted by the bailout package.

Speaking to criticism that the plan only benefits the big Wall Street banks embroiled in the financial crisis, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told CBS' The Early Show Wednesday, "This is only about the American people. This is only about Main Street."

The rationale behind capital injections and buying bad debts is to unclog credit. That should help financial markets function more normally again and - in time - help the wobbly economy get back on stronger footing.

"We now have the tools we need to respond with the necessary force to these challenges," Bernanke told the group. Still, he warned, "I am not suggesting the way forward will be easy."

In his prepared remarks, Bernanke did not give a fresh clue about the Fed's next move on interest rates.

In a coordinated assault on the global financial crisis last week, the Fed and other major central banks ordered hefty rate reductions. The Fed dropped its key rate to 1.50 percent, from 2 percent, in an emergency move.

Many economists said the Fed might cut rates again at its regularly scheduled meeting later this month, or may be later this year.

Bernanke said it is likely economic activity will "fall short of potential for a time."

A growing number of analysts predict the economy will actually shrink in the final three months of this year and the first three months of next year, meeting the classic definition of a recession.

"Ultimately, the trajectory of economic activity beyond the next few quarters will depend greatly on the extent to which financial and credit markets return to more normal functioning," Bernanke said.

Even with a flurry of radical steps recently taken by the Fed, the U.S. government and others around the world, "credit markets will take some time to unfreeze," Bernanke said.

The economy had been losing traction even before the financial crisis intensified last month. Fallout from the housing market's collapse continues to be the primary source of weakness for the economy and for financial markets.

All the problems have led to employers cutting jobs and other investments. Nervous consumers have hunkered down. Slowdowns overseas is sapping export growth, which had been a key source keeping the economy afloat.

"These restraining influences on economic activity, however, will be offset somewhat by the favorable effects of lower prices for oil and other commodities on household purchasing power," Bernanke said.

With the economy slowing, inflation should moderate, he added.