On Capitol Hill, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke appeared for a second consecutive day of testimony Wednesday on the struggling US economy. Under questioning from Democratic Congressmember Joe Baca, Bernanke said he remains unsure if the US economy is in recession.

Rep. Joe Baca: “Do you believe that we are in a recession?”

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke: “I don’t know, and I don’t know if the — in fact, I’m quite confident that the people who officially will determine that don’t know either. In the past —”

Rep. Baca: “But do you feel that the people that are impacting it feel that we’re in a recession?”

Bernanke:”Well, again I think I would not — I would not put much weight on this technical terminology. I mean, I think it’s clear that growth has been slow that the labor market is weak, and so conditions are tough on average families.”