The U.S. and global recoveries have been "disappointing" so far and may point to a permanent downshift in economic potential, U.S. Federal Reserve Vice Chair Stanley Fischer said on Monday. In an overview of the years since the 2007-2009 financial crisis and recession, Fischer said a slowing of U.S. productivity, declining labor force participation and other factors may have scarred the United States' ability to generate economic growth. The same thing may be happening for different reasons in Europe, major emerging economies like China, and elsewhere, he said, forcing central bankers to recast their understanding of inflation, employment and growth in general.



Stanley Fischer Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

"The global recovery has been disappointing," Fischer said in prepared remarks for a speech to an economic conference in Sweden. Long-run annual growth in the United States may now be perhaps as low as 2 percent, a full percentage point below the estimate of Fed policymakers as recently as 2009, he said. Some of that may represent temporary factors that will change if, for example, the U.S. housing market improves. "But it is also possible that the underperformance reflects a more structural, longer-term shift in the global economy," Fischer said. Read MoreWhy Fed could start raising rates sooner than you think Fischer, the influential new No. 2 official at the U.S. central bank, outlined the challenges facing monetary policymakers as they try to navigate the end of the unconventional methods used to support the economy in recent years.