This is scary if he actually believes what he’s saying. Remember that the US economy needs to add roughly 150,000 jobs per month just to break even with workers coming into the system, so falling short doesn’t sound encouraging. Then again, when your focus is on maintaining the lifestyle of Wall Street, maybe you miss a few details beyond Manhattan. Reuters:

The U.S. economy may be finally hitting its stride, even if growth remains too weak to put a real dent in the nation’s jobless rate, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Friday. Offering no real clues on the future direction of monetary policy, Bernanke sounded cautiously more upbeat, citing improvements in consumer spending and a drop in jobless claims as hopeful signs that a fragile recovery was perking up. “We have seen increased evidence that a self-sustaining recovery in consumer and business spending may be taking hold,” the central bank chief said in his first testimony to Congress since the Fed launched a controversial plan to buy an additional $600 billion in government bonds.

Bernanke did go on to say that employment numbers will take another “four or five years” but even that sounds optimistic. He doesn’t have a great track record with his predictions.