Recovery has 'long way to go': Fed's Raskin (by Steve Goldstein)

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The national economic recovery "clearly has a long way to go," Fed Gov. Sarah Bloom Raskin said at a luncheon for business and community leaders in Los Angeles. She noted that the share of unemployed workers who have been without a job for more than six months is still more than 40% nationwide, a level well above that seen in earlier recessions. "Not only have the enormous loss of housing wealth, heavy debt burdens, and tight credit conditions restrained household spending, but the accompanying wave of mortgage defaults has also had considerable repercussions for homeowners, lenders, communities, and the pace of this economic recovery," she added. She said the Fed's actions have helped to lower interest rates, which has helped business equipment and software spending as well as car spending, and also helped foreign trade.