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Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke announced today that he predicts the economy to bottom out and start to recover by the end of the year. This has been his most optimistic prediction in months. Previously, Bernanke predicted the economy to bottom out only if the government could gain control of domestic financial markets.

Bernanke cautioned the public to not get overly optimistic, as more jobs will be lost in the coming months. Since the recession started in December, 2007, over 5 million jobs have been lost and national unemployment has skyrocketed to 8.5 percent in March, a 25 year high. Economists are torn over the placement of the unemployment ceiling, with some placing it as high as 10 percent. The Federal Reserve provided a more conservative estimate of 9 percent.

Last year the economy contracted 6 percent–the largest decrease in a single six-month period since the 50s.

 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30575197/