Fed head Dudley says economy still far from recovery

A head of the Federal Reserve has come out with a somewhat lukewarm message regarding the U.S. economy, stating that while there has been improvement that it was still far from being fully recovered.

While speaking at a World Leaders Forum last Monday, president and CEO of the Fed’s New York branch William C. Dudley said that while the economy was working towards a recovery and the worst conditions were seemingly over, it was still weak and would take time to fully bounce back.

"The recession now appears to be over, but the economy is still weak and the unemployment rate is much too high," Dudley said. He added that because of that, the Fed would likely keep interest rates "exceptionally low for an extended period."

Dudley also admitted that, in retrospect, the Fed could have done more to help and limit the financial crisis than it actually did, and credited the Obama Administration’s federal stimulus package with helping to "ward off a total collapse of our financial system."

However, he added that the Fed would learn from its past mistakes. Noting that some of the bailouts provided to banks had angered many consumers as they struggled through debt counseling, he said that the Fed and other regulators had committed to move effectively in order to prevent the same oversights from leading to another crisis.