With less than a month to go in his term as Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke wouldn't say he deserves a gold star for the full recovery of the American economy.
"The recovery clearly remains incomplete," Bernanke said in a speech at the annual American Economic Association's meeting on Friday, CNN Money reported.
Janet Yellen, vice-chair of the Reserve, will most likely take over from Bernanke when his term ends on Jan. 31.
Supporters of Bernanke say he was a driving force behind pulling the economy out of the biggest recession since the Great Depression, CNN Money reported.
But Bernanke feels he's leaving office when there is still much to be done for the economy. The unemployment rate, currently at 7 percent, "still is elevated," Bernanke said, according to CNN Money. Also, workers are still pessimistic about job opportunities, causing their contribution to the job market to decline, CNN Money reported.
On a positive note Bernanke did defend the Federal Reserve's decision to implement a bond buying policy, where bonds worth billions of dollars were bought each month in order to lower interest rates and boost the economy, CNN Money reported.
Bernanke said the policy, which increased the Reserve's assets to over $4 trillion, "helped promote the recovery," CNN Money reported. The Reserve is planning on slowly reducing the amount of bonds it buys per month until it gets to zero.
Critics say the policy may not have improved the job market and that it might hurt the economy down the road.
Since the policy began in 2012 the economy has added nearly 2.7 million jobs, CNN Money reported. Though Bernanke warned against making definite statements of the economy's future, he said the nation is on the right track for improvement.
"The combination of financial healing, greater balance in the housing market, less fiscal restraint, and, of course, continued monetary policy accommodation bodes well for the U.S. economic growth in the coming quarters," Bernanke said, according to CNN Money.
