Bernanke: U.S. Economy ‘Rather Fragile’

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke urged lawmakers to keep in mind that the U.S. recovery is still at a delicate stage when they consider actions to cut the debt and deficit.

“In the very near term, the recovery is rather fragile,” Bernanke said to the Senate Banking Committee, and “sharp” cuts in the deficit could harm the recovery.

To contact the reporters on this story: Steve Matthews in Atlanta at smatthews@bloomberg.net;

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christopher Wellisz at cwellisz@bloomberg.net