Bernanke to testify before Senate Budget Committee next week

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will testify before the Senate Budget Committee next week in order to offer projections on the short-term future of monetary and fiscal policy in the U.S. 

Bernanke testified before the House Budget Committee on Thursday, offering a bleak description of the nation's tepid economic recovery. He said it was advancing “frustratingly slow,” and warned Congress the outlook for growth remains “uncertain” and vulnerable. 

On Tuesday Bernanke will likely respond to rosy job numbers that emerged on Friday for the month of January. Unemployment dropped for the fifth straight month to 8.3 percent — the lowest it’s been in nearly three years.

Senate committee hearings for next week are as follows:

Budget Committee

Feb. 07, "Hearings to examine the outlook for United States monetary and fiscal policy"

10 a.m., 608 Dirksen Senate Office Building  

Key witness: Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Feb. 09, "Hearings to examine assessing inequality, mobility, and opportunity" 

10 a.m., 608 Dirksen Senate Office Building  

Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee

Feb. 07, "Hearings to examine accessible technology, focusing on challenges and opportunities"

2:30 p.m., G50 Dirksen Senate Office Building  

Joint Economic Committee

Feb. 07, "Hearings to examine bolstering the economy, focusing on helping American families by reauthorizing the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance (UI) benefits"

2:30 p.m., 216 Senate Hart Building

Key witness: Mark Zandi, chief economist, Moody’s Analytics

Energy and Natural Resources

Feb. 09, "Hearings to examine H.R.1904, to facilitate the efficient extraction of mineral resources in southeast Arizona by authorizing and directing an exchange of Federal and non-Federal land, and the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act of 2009"

9:30 a.m., 366 Dirksen Senate Office Building  

Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs

Feb. 09, "Hearings to examine the state of the housing market, focusing on removing barriers to economic recovery"

10 a.m., 538 Dirksen Senate Office Building