Bernanke: labor market has "long way" to safety

"We still have a long way to go before the labor market can be said to be operating normally," Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke said today in Washington before the Senate Budget Committee.

on February 2, Bernanke gave similiar remarks to the House Budget Panel, urging lawmakers to shave the long-term budget deficit and highlighting the risks of elevated unemployemnt.

Unemployment rate dropped unexpectedly to 8.3 percent, the Department of Labor reported late Friday. Anyhow, its seems Bernanke's views on the health of the labor market is intact.

Despite of the supereme employment growth, Bernanke said a hike in in bechmark interest rates before 2013 will mostly slow growth, as it remains above the 5.2 percent to 6 percent that Fed officials say is consistent with maximum employment.

U.S Stocks were flat following Bernanke's testimony, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.04 percent at 10:49 a.m. in New York to 12840.43 and Standard & Poor's 500 Index shed 0.16 percent to 1342.13.