Bernanke: Risk of U.S. Downturn 'Diminished'

The U.S. economy may have avoided a major decline, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has said. At a bankers' conference in Massachusetts, Bernanke said the risk of a substantial downturn had "diminished over the past month or so. He added that despite a recent rise in unemployment, which last month saw its biggest jump in 20 years, a series of reductions in interests rates in the last nine months combined with tax cuts had helped to offset the risks threatening the economy. Bernanke did say, however, that rising energy prices risked pushing up inflation.