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Federal Reserve officials issued a more favorable assessment of the economy but refrained from taking any new action to add to or pull back from their latest campaign to spur growth.

Citigroup Inc may be a surprise winner when the Federal Reserve reveals the results of bank stress tests designed to gauge the health of the biggest U.S. banks.

The average 30-year mortgage rate rose to 3.98 percent Thursday, reflecting a 0.10 percentage point jump after setting a new historic low last week, according to Freddie Mac. Despite the jump, the 30-year fixed rate has remained below 4 percent for eight weeks, and the Federal Reserve yesterday indicated it plans to keep interest rates at zero for some time.

The Federal Reserve extended the time it expects to see “exceptionally low” short-term interest rates from the middle of 2013.

Ben Bernanke presided over his first meeting as Federal Reserve chairman in March 2006 believing the nation's economy could pull off a "soft landing" from falling home prices. Three months later, Bernanke had begun to grasp that he and others had underestimated the risk housing posed to the economy....

The Federal Reserve will begin later this month to publish a forecast of its own actions, inaugurating a policy that is intended to magnify the power of those actions by shaping the expectations of investors.

The Federal Reserve said Tuesday that the U.S. economy has improved modestly as hiring and consumer spending have risen, and it's holding off on any new steps to boost the economy. Fed officials cautioned in their statement that unemployment remains high. And it noted that global economic growth has slowed — a reference to Europe's debt crisis. They left open the possibility of taking new steps next year if the economy worsens.

Bernanke, who has called the level of long-term unemployment in the United States a national crisis, made clear that policymakers were still preoccupied with lowering the 9 percent jobless rate, but he warned it will take time to bring it to more-normal levels.

US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke tells Congress that the US economy is "close to faltering" and more action may be needed.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday that long-term unemployment is a “national crisis” and suggested that Congress should take further action to combat it. He also said lawmakers should provide more help to the battered housing industry.