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About 8 million immigrants living unlawfully in the United States would gain legal status under sweeping legislation moving toward a vote in the Senate, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday, adding the bill would push federal deficits lower in each of the next two decades.

In an assessment that drew cheers from the White House and other backers of the bill, Congress’ scorekeeping agency said the legislation would boost the overall economy. The agency said deficits would fall by $197 billion across a decade, and by $700 billion in the following 10 years if the bill became law.

In a statement issued quickly after the report was released, the White House said it was “more proof that bipartisan commonsense immigration reform will be good for economic growth and deficit reduction.”

The estimates were released as the pace of activity increased at both ends of the Capitol on an issue that President Barack Obama has placed at the top of his domestic agenda.

Challenged by protesters chanting “shame, shame,” House Republicans advanced legislation to crack down on immigrants living illegally in the United States, at the same time the Senate lurched ahead on a dramatically different approach offering the hope of citizenship to the same millions.

Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina said the bill moving through the House Judiciary Committee was part of a “step by step, increment by increment” approach to immigration, an issue that can pit Republican against Republican as much if not more than it divides the two political parties.

California Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren predicted there would be “millions of American citizens taking to the street” in protest if Republicans pressed ahead with the bill. The measure permits state and local authorities to enforce federal immigration laws and requires mandatory detention for anyone in the country illegally who is convicted of drunk driving.

Despite the protests, approval by the committee was a foregone conclusion. The panel’s chairman, Rep. Robert Goodlatte, R-Va., said future bills would require companies to make sure their employees are living in the United States legally, create a program for foreign farm workers who labor in the United States and enhance the ability of American firms to hire highly skilled workers from overseas.

Those steps and more are already rolled into one sweeping measure in the Senate, a bipartisan bill that Obama supports and that appears on track for a final Senate vote as early as July 4.

In its report and an accompanying three-page analysis, the CBO said the Senate measure would boost economic activity by 3.3 percent in 2023 and by 5.4 percent in 2033.

Not all the economic assessments were as favorable. CBO said average wages would decrease as a result of the bill for more than a decade before increasing afterwards. The bill will also “slightly raise the unemployment rate through 2020,” it said.

In a series of votes during the day, the Senate rejected a move by Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., to require the installation of 350 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border before legalization can begin for anyone currently in the United States illegally.

Similarly, the Senate rejected a proposal by Sen. David Vitter, R-La., to prevent legalization until a biometric system is in place to track people entering or leaving the country through air, sea or land points of departure.

Those proposals were overshadowed by a larger debate over the types of border security requirements the legislation should contain payday loans for self employed. Republicans generally want to toughen the existing measure, particularly since the bill includes a 13-year path to citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally â(EURO)” a provision that sparks opposition from voters who could be influential in GOP primaries in next year’s mid-term elections.

Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., told reporters that he and others want the government to demonstrate an ability to apprehend the vast majority of those attempting to enter the country illegally before anyone already present can take the first step toward possible citizenship.

Democrats have previously been unwilling to consider proposals along those lines, arguing they could postpone legalization for years if not longer. As drafted, the bill gives the government six months to develop a plan to achieve border security, but does not hold up legalization while it is being tested for effectiveness.

It was unclear what, if any, compromise is possible on that point. Agreement would greatly increase the bill’s chances for passage with a large bipartisan vote.

The measure was drafted by a bipartisan Gang of Eight and represents a series of political trade-offs among senators as well as outside groups like business and labor, growers and farm workers. In addition to border security and a path to citizenship, it includes an expanded number of visas for highly skilled workers prized by the technology industry and a new program for low-skilled workers. It also features a top-to-bottom overhaul of a decades-old system for parceling out visas to future legal immigrants, reducing the importance of family ties while emphasizing education, job skills and youth.

Broad in its scope, the bill calls for new judges, prosecutors and other officials to handle cases involving immigration law. At the same time, it would require the government to pay for legal representation, if necessary, for unaccompanied children caught up in such cases, as well as for adults determined to be legally incompetent because of a serious mental disability.

Any talk of compromise in the House appeared distant as Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, sought to reassure conservatives who have expressed fears he will allow legislation to come up this summer that they oppose and Democrats support.

One official who attended the closed-door meeting quoted the Ohio Republican as saying he has no intention of allowing a bill to come up that would violate the principles of the GOP majority and split its ranks. The speaker also made clear that legislation must satisfy Republican concerns about border security, according to the official.

At roughly the same time, Goodlatte gaveled the Judiciary Committee to order, and more than a dozen protesters who had been seated in the hearing room stood up and began clapping and chanting, “Shame, shame, shame! More of the same!” They were ushered out but their cries could still be heard in the hallway and committee proceedings were briefly interrupted.

The bill was the first on immigration to move through the committee this year, but hardly the opening salvo from conservatives who hold sway in the House.

Two weeks ago, the House voted to overturn Obama’s 2012 election year announcement that he was suspending deportation of many immigrants who came to the country illegally as children.

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Federal regulators have indefinitely delayed a decision on the proposed restart of the shuttered San Onofre nuclear power plant in California, raising new questions Monday about whether the twin reactors will produce electricity again.

The seaside plant between San Diego and Los Angeles has been dark since January 2012, after a small radiation leak led to the discovery of unusual damage to hundreds of tubes that carry radioactive water.

Operator Southern California Edison wants permission to restart the Unit 2 reactor and run it at reduced power in hopes of stopping vibration and friction that was blamed for damaging tubing.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission delayed several earlier target dates for a ruling. Its website on Monday listed no date for a restart decision _ only “to be determined.”

Agency spokesman Victor Dricks had no comment.

Last week, the NRC’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board sided with environmentalists who have called for lengthy hearings on the restart plan after concluding that firing up the plant would allow Edison “to operate beyond the scope of its existing license.”

A statement from SCE spokeswoman Jennifer Manfre noted that NRC Chair Allison Macfarlane indicated earlier that no decision would be made until at least mid-June on the company’s request to change its operating license to run at lower power.

“SCE continues to adhere to the established regulatory process,” the statement said payday loans with no fax. The company “cannot restart Unit 2 until the NRC says that it is safe to do so.”

Last month, SCE’s parent, Edison International, raised the possibility of retiring the plant if it can’t get one reactor running later this year. The company also disclosed that costs tied to the long-running shutdown had hit $553 million.

Edison is facing a tangle of regulatory obstacles that include a separate state investigation into who should pay for the trouble _ customers or shareholders.

Meanwhile, anti-nuclear activists and some lawmakers have said restarting the plant would lead to a disaster.

Friends of the Earth, an advocacy group challenging the restart, believes no decision can be made “until all the safety issues raised by the board are addressed,” spokesman Shaun Burnie said in an email.

Even with San Onofre sidelined, state power officials predict that there should be adequate power supplies in California this summer, but heat waves or wildfires that damage transmission lines could lead to potential shortages.

San Onofre is owned by SCE, San Diego Gas & Electric and the city of Riverside.

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Asian stock markets rose Monday after a surprisingly strong U.S. jobs report pushed Wall Street stocks to new highs. Malaysian shares jumped after the country’s ruling political alliance won national elections.

The Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index both rose to record highs Friday after the Labor Department reported that U.S. employers added 165,000 workers last month and many more in February and March than previously estimated. The unemployment rate fell to 7.5 percent, which was the lowest level in four years.

The report counterbalanced weeks of mixed signals about manufacturing and corporate earnings and renewed hopes of a recovery in the world’s largest economy.

“The dichotomy between hard economic data and asset market performance continues but unlike over past weeks at least there was some justification for the rally in equity markets following the stronger than expected US April jobs report,” said a market commentary from Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong.

Malaysia’s KLSE Composite surged 2.9 percent to 1,744.50 after the country’s governing coalition won national elections, albeit with a weakened majority, to extend its unbroken, 56-year rule.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.1 percent to 22,932.93. South Korea’s Kospi was 0.3 percent higher at 1,972.27. Australia’s S&P/ASX advanced 1 percent to 5,178.80. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan and the Philippines also rose. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index was closed for a public holiday.

On Friday, the Dow crossed 15,000 for the first time before closing 1 percent higher at 14,973.96. The S&P 500 index rose 1 percent to 1,614.42, closing above 1,600 for the first time. The Nasdaq composite index 1.1 percent to 3,378.63.

Benchmark oil for June delivery was up 97 cents to $96.58 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.62 to close at $95.61 a barrel on the Nymex on Friday.

In currencies, the euro rose to $1.3124 from $1.3110 late Friday in New York. The dollar rose to 99.09 yen from 99.04 yen.

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It was a surprising recall and an unlikely major-league start for Ricky Romero on Friday at the Rogers Centre. It wasn’t supposed to be this soon. The Jays’ 28-year-old lefthander remains a work in progress, with a single minor-league start under his belt on the way to his necessary rebuild. But the club decided he was ready to begin the next segment of his career. Romero’s results were mixed.

Facing the Mariners, replacing a disabled Josh Johnson, he lasted just four innings in a 4-0 loss facing the M’s ace, Felix Hernandez. After three shutout innings, looking re-energized and confident, Romero went back out and threw 37 pitches in the fourth, with two visits by a trainer — one for what may have been a blister and the other when his left arm was in the way on a hard comebacker by Jesus Montero. But the best news, the news that matters most to Romero at this point, is that he’s back.

The Jays have avoided any comparisons to the past, the Roy Halladay rebuild, for the obvious reason of not putting pressure on their current down, but not out, still improving starter. But the relationship between the reconstructing Romero and his current minor-league instructor, Dane Johnson, bears a striking similarity to that of their former star, Halladay, and his mentor, the late Mel Queen.

Nobody is suggesting that Romero will ever bounce back to match Halladay’s career numbers — the very comparison the Jays are trying to avoid — but the most important thing for the L.A.-born lefty’s rebuilt psyche is that he’s back in the majors with a new outlook and a new delivery.

The 50-year-old Johnson has been the organization’s minor-league roving instructor since 2004. On March 27, the day after Romero was given the devastating news of his demotion following another failed spring training start vs. the Pirates, Johnson, a second-round pick by the Jays in 1984, was handed the important assignment of fixing what was broken with the two-time opening day starter.

Every day in April, from 9:30 a.m. to noon, in addition to his normal duties seeing kid pitchers at the Jays’ extended spring camp, Johnson and Romero worked alone. Much has been made of several publicized Romero fixes — a more direct line to the plate and hands that never are raised above his head anymore — but there were other factors as important, many involving routine.

“Taking a step back and breaking down throwing programs,” Johnson said of the most difficult part of the rebuild. “Breaking down where the ball should come from, how he’s going to cross the T’s and dot the I’s in his throwing programs and how he was going to work around all the things that needed to be implemented in his delivery online payday loans.

“They came pretty quick, because No. 1 he’s a smart guy. No. 2 he’s a good athlete. No. 3 he’s a pro and when he realized himself that, ‘Hey, I do have to do these things to be able to be effective and throw strikes,’ it started the flow a little bit. He saw the progress. We had little victories along the way. He saw the results and took them into his games and he repeated it and he reaped the benefits of it.”

A lot of the change and the ability to convince Romero of the need for the change came in the video room, finding old video as a kid pro, comparing it to the success of 2011 and the failure of 2012.

“I went back to 2005-06,” Johnson explained. “I broke out the analog equipment. We got those tapes, not necessarily implementing them, we saw an explosive young kid at that particular time who got out over his front side and drove the ball with real great extension.

“That reminded him of a lot of things when he got into his throwing programs of what he could do, what he has to do. Again, it was more attention to detail on his throwing programs, on his (bullpen) sides, on his deliveries, paying attention to those. The focus now seems taken off the mound and going to home plate. Hopefully he has enough reps under his belt doing the things properly, technique-wise, mechanical-wise where he can worry about the hitter and what’s going on at home plate.”

Thus it was that a more confident Ricky Romero strolled with J.P. Arencibia from the bullpen to the dugout after the anthems had been played and then moments later headed out to the mound with a renewed confidence in what he could accomplish against major-league hitters — if he threw strikes.

“The first inning is going to be huge, the first hitter is going to be huge,” Johnson predicted. “Hopefully those go well and we’ll roll from there and I think you’ll see, if that continues to roll, I think you’ll see the guy getting back on the mound and working with good tempo and repeat his pitches.”

Romero’s first was a confidence boost. He retired Canadian leadoff man Michael Saunders on a 3-1 grounder to second base, allowed a line drive single to Kyle Seager, then had Kendrys Morales roll over on a grounder to short for an inning-ending double play. In his mind, he was back.

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New York Federal Reserve Bank President William C. Dudley said European economic weakness and U.S. budget woes mean

How’s this for holiday savings: a shopping haul of remote control cars, tablets, warm coats and boots worth $8,000 for just $1,300.

That was how well extreme couponer Joni Crothers and her “coupon-tourage” of 14 friends and family members did after 15 hours of shopping at 10 stores in Toledo, Ohio, on Black Friday.

It works out to about $450 an hour in savings. There’s a cherry on top of this shopping spree. It will be used to fulfill wish lists from 16 children in need.

Crothers knows what it’s like to be down and out around the holidays. She started clipping coupons when her husband lost his auto industry job four years ago. In the process, Crothers discovered a talent for discount hunting that was good enough to be featured on the popular TLC show “Extreme Couponing.”

She now uses her talent to give back to children she met through a local food bank. She even identifies with some of them.

“One of the kids we’re helping has a mom who lost her automotive factory job two years ago, and now her unemployment is running out,” she said. “These families just need to feel like there are people who care about them.”

The coupontourage had their shopping plans down to a science this year. Crothers started her Thanksgiving meal in the early afternoon so she would be ready.

The group met at Crothers’ home at 7:15 p.m. on Thanksgiving, earlier than their 9 p.m. start last year, since stores like , Fortune 500)and Toys R Us pushed their doorbuster sales up by an hour.

The crew then fanned out to Toys R Us, Wal-Mart, , Fortune 500), , Fortune 500), Bath and Body Works, , Fortune 500), , Fortune 500) and ) — stores that Crothers determined had the greatest number of items on the children’s lists.

She headed off to Target, where she found the crowds crazier and the people grumpier than last year cash advance companies.

“Most people are usually in the holiday spirit,” she said. “But not this year. Maybe it’s because the sales are starting earlier and they’re not getting family time in or time to rest.”

The coupontourage tuned out the bah humbugs and focused on their lists. They targeted each store knowing what they would buy: coats and boots from Kohl’s, remote control cars and baby dolls from Toys R Us, electronics from Wal-Mart.

They relied on money-back promotions on gift cards that many stores were offering, wherein stores give you a certain amount back for every gift card you buy.

Their strategy paid off. At Kohl’s alone, they spent $330 for $1,900 worth of items. At Toys R Us, they saved another 72%, thanks to the 60% off on hot toys offered during the store’s early bird special.

Crothers’ biggest coup was for a 15 year-old girl, who had put five books on her wish list, which would have cost the coupontourage more than $100.

Crothers had a different idea. She used the money she collected from buying gift cards to purchase a Barnes & Noble Nook e-reader tablet, which retails for $199, and plunked $40 of the group’s budget. The kid will also get a $50 gift card to download her books.

The 16 children will get a chance to see what the coupontourage snapped up at a “Happy Birthday Jesus party” that Crothers hosts at a local food bank on Christmas eve. Each kid is called up by Santa Claus to get a gift.

Just when the children think that’s the only present they’re getting, Crothers unveils the big cardboard boxes filled with the rest of the items on each kid’s wish list.

“That’s when it’s really neat, to see their faces,” she said.

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Optimism about the job market has consumers feeling more upbeat about the U.S. economy than they have been in four and a half years, according to one key measure of consumer confidence.

The Consumer Confidence Index calculated by the Conference Board rose to 73.7 in November, up slightly from 73.1 the month before. That’s the highest level since February 2008.

Solid hiring in the fall has fueled much of the recent improvement in sentiment. In November, 20.3% of people surveyed said they expect more jobs in the next six months.

“Over the past few months, consumers have grown increasingly more upbeat about the current and expected state of the job market, and this turnaround in sentiment is helping to boost confidence,” said Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at The Conference Board, in a statement.

Meanwhile, a housing recovery has also boosted sentiment. About 6.9% of consumers surveyed say they plan to buy a home in the next six months.

A separate report released Thursday showed home prices rose 3.6% in the third quarter compared to the same quarter a year earlier. It marked the biggest year-over-year jump in two years, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller index.

That said, economic growth still remains sluggish and that also affects how consumers are feeling.

About 60% of consumers said they believe the economy will have the same number of jobs six months from now and 69.1% said they expect their income to remain the same over that time period.

Economists point to fears about higher taxes in 2013 as a potential threat to consumer confidence and also spending habits in December, as fiscal cliff negotiations continue on Capitol Hill.

“As yet, households are largely unaware of exactly what the ‘fiscal cliff’ means to their bottom line, or simply believe Congress will figure it out and do something before it takes effect,” said Ellen Zentner, senior U.S. economist with Nomura. “As widespread media coverage concentrates more on the fiscal cliff, so will U.S. households.”

Other measures of consumer confidence by the University of Michigan and Rasmussen Reports, already show fiscal cliff fears weighing on sentiment. In a report released Monday, the White House said uncertainty about taxes could hurt holiday sales and consumer spending going into 2013.

Consumer spending accounts for more than two thirds of U.S. economic activity.

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The looming spending cuts at the Pentagon played a starring role in Monday night’s foreign policy debate.

Mitt Romney said several times he would “not cut our military budget by $1 trillion.”

At issue are changes to defense spending in President Obama’s budget, as well as the impending “sequester” that will hit the Pentagon starting on Jan. 2.

For his part, Obama said his budget isn’t “reducing our military spending — it is maintaining it.” And, he added, the sequester “will not happen.” (Related: Obama vs. Romney on defense spending)

Who’s responsible for the defense cuts? Both parties in Congress and Obama approved the sequester.

The cuts are called for under the Budget Control Act. The BCA, which was signed into law in August 2011, was how lawmakers chose to resolve their bitter fight over raising the country’s debt ceiling.

The original idea was to pass something so distasteful it would light a fire under lawmakers to finally negotiate a deal to reduce deficits by at least $1.2 trillion over a decade.

But a “super committee” charged with doing so failed. Under the budget law, the next step was the sequester. The cuts would be evenly divided between defense and nondefense spending.

Now, both parties and the Obama administration say the cuts are a terrible idea — largely because they would be arbitrary and mostly across the board. (Related: Snapshot of economy under Obama)

How deep would the defense cuts be? It depends what you mean by “cuts.”

To fiscal experts, a cut means spending that falls below the level authorized by Congress in the prior year — or even spending that stays at the same level, because it hasn’t been adjusted for inflation.

The Budget Control Act actually called for two rounds of changes to defense spending.

The first round, which is already in effect, would not be considered a “cut.” The BCA set spending caps, which shaved $487 billion off the Pentagon budget over 10 years. But defense spending would continue to grow at the rate of inflation.

Romney says he would reinstate the $487 billion; Obama incorporated it into his budget proposal.

The second round of changes, the actual sequester, would be a real cut.

Starting in 2013, defense budget authority would be sliced by 9.4%, not including war funding. The cuts to some parts of defense would be higher because Obama has exempted military personnel and veterans’ affairs from the sequester.

In dollars, the Congressional Budget Office projects that the Pentagon’s base budget will fall to $491 billion in 2013, down from $554 billion in 2012. Thereafter, defense spending will grow with inflation. That would save roughly $500 billion over a decade.

“The Pentagon will still be spending more in 2013 after sequestration than it did in 2006, at the height of the Iraq war,” noted Lawrence Korb, who served as assistant defense secretary under President Reagan. (Related: Romney’s balanced budget pledge)

Will the cuts hurt defense? Everyone from the top brass at the Pentagon to Republican critics of the Budget Control Act has said the cuts could result in a “hollow force.”

The White House budget office has noted, however, that the Defense Department would be able to shift funds to maintain critical military readiness.

Indeed, the operations and maintenance part of the defense budget — the area that most directly affects military readiness — is also the most fungible part. Funds can be shifted to what is deemed most important.

“This is a management issue, not a readiness issue,” said Gordon Adams, who was the senior White House budget official for national security under President Clinton.

Adams said the cuts likely would be felt most heavily by general service personnel at the Pentagon through attrition and furloughs and by service contractors (those who provide everything from mess hall services to security guards).

None of that means, however, that the cuts are advisable. After all, they only exist because Congress failed to reduce deficits in a smarter way.

Why can’t Congress just cancel the cuts? Easier said than done. Lawmakers need to negotiate a deal to avoid the defense cuts and the rest of the fiscal cliff — $7 trillion in tax increases and spending cuts that start taking effect next year.

But both parties are still publicly holding the line on their demands. The Republicans want to cancel the defense cuts and head off tax increases. The Democrats want to increase taxes on the rich before they agree to replace the sequester with more gradual and less arbitrary cuts.

Just last week, the White House was signaling again that the president would not sign legislation that cancels the cuts but extends the Bush-era tax cuts for high-income taxpayers.

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Lithium battery maker A123 Systems may have been forced to file for bankruptcy protection this week, but the company is still attractive enough to spark a bidding war for its assets.

), a major supplier to the U.S. electric car industry and recipient of $249 million in government stimulus funding, announced Tuesday that it had filed for bankruptcy.

The same day, A123 said it had entered into a $125 million deal for the sale of its automotive assets to U.S. parts maker , Fortune 500). As part of the deal, Johnson Controls agreed to provide A123 the funding it needs to operate during bankruptcy reorganization.

But Chinese auto parts maker Wanxiang Group went to federal bankruptcy court in Delaware on Thursday, arguing it has a better offer for A123 already on the table, and seeking to be the one to provide bankruptcy financing to A123.

Earlier this year, Wanxiang agreed to pay $465 million for a controlling stake in A123. But the deal ran into government opposition due to the investment in the company by the Energy Department and the company’s contracts with the U.S. Defense Department.

Bankruptcy judge Kevin Carey gave the first round to Johnson Controls on Thursday, allowing A123 access to the first $15 billion of financing from Johnson Controls — once Johnson Controls agreed to cut the interest rate to match the offer from Wanxiang (see correction below).

But a decision on who will get to buy the assets, and at what price, is still pending before the court, which is charged with getting the best deal possible for creditors guaranteed online payday loans.

Michael Lew, analyst with Needham Co., said the bidding war is proof that no matter what financial problems forced A123 into bankruptcy, the industry sees it as a valuable business going forward.

“Electric cars aren’t a good value proposition right now. But over time the market will evolve,” said Lew. “Johnson Controls’ interest validates A123’s business.”

Lew said he believes there could be additional bidders for A123 before the issue is settled, and that it’s difficult to predict who will win. He said while Wanxiang might have the more lucrative offer at the moment, the deal could be rejected if the bankruptcy court determines it won’t win regulatory approval.

“Their offer is bigger, period. But there is a concern about all of the IP [intellectual property] going to China,” he said.

Neither Johnson Controls nor A123 responded Friday to requests for comment on the bidding war, and Wanxiang could not be reached for comment.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the amount of financing available to A123 from Johnson Controls. It is $15 million not $15 billion.

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The Federal Reserve announced plans to unleash more stimulus Thursday, in its third attempt at a controversial program to rev up the U.S. economy.

The policy, known as quantitative easing and often abbreviated as QE3, entails buying $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities each month. The end date remains up in the air, as the Fed will re-evaluate the strength of the economy in coming months.

The Fed is wasting no time. The purchases begin Friday and are expected to add up to only $23 billion for the remainder of September.

The bond-buying policy “should put downward pressure on longer-term interest rates, support mortgage markets, and help to make broader financial conditions more accommodative,” the Fed’s official statement said.

Meanwhile, the Fed will continue its existing policy known as Operation Twist. Together the two programs will add $85 billion in long-term bonds to the Fed’s balance sheet each month.

In addition, the Fed also indicated that it plans to keep short-term interest rates at “exceptionally low levels” until mid-2015. Previously, the Fed had forecast rates would remain low until late 2014.

The central bank’s main objective is to lower interest rates and mortgage rates in particular. By keeping rates low, the Fed hopes to fuel more spending and eventually, more hiring.

The Fed has been trying to stimulate the economy for over three years now, and has exhausted its usual tool by keeping interest rates near zero since late 2008. Quantitative easing is an unconventional way of trying to lower rates further.

But given that the unemployment rate has remained above 8%, the Fed is still not satisfied.

“The weak job market should concern every American. It imposes hardship on people and a waste of human skills and talents,” Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said in a press conference later Thursday.

Last week, the government’s jobs report showed hiring slowed substantially in August and the labor force shrank.

In its statement, the Fed indicated it will not only continue QE3, but also “employ its other policy tools” if the “labor market does not improve substantially.”

Bernanke also admitted that the Fed alone is not strong enough to fix the job market.

“I want to be clear — While I think we can make a meaningful and significant contribution to reducing this problem, we can’t solve it. We don’t have tools that are strong enough to solve the unemployment problem,” he said.

The Fed’s accommodative policies have been contentious from the start. Republicans often warn that as the Federal Reserve has expanded the money supply, it has set the economy up for rapid inflation in the future.

Meanwhile, economists expect the benefits to be minor, and the risks are uncertain. The first two rounds of quantitative easing lowered interest rates and fueled stock market gains, but banks haven’t been eager to lend out money readily.

Banks are sitting on $1.6 trillion in reserves and credit standards remain tight following the financial crisis. Households continue to pay down debt, and are in no hurry to ramp up their spending.

That said, it’s possible the Fed’s move could help the housing market slightly. New construction and home prices have already started picking up recently, and should mortgage rates fall further, that could fuel a quicker housing recovery.

The QE3 move comes after Bernanke has repeatedly urged Congress to do more to support the recovery in the short term, while still addressing the country’s debt problem over the long term.

But Congress has done little to heed his advice, and given it’s an election year, they’re not expected to act anytime soon. Economists often cite the threat of fiscal cliff as one of the key reasons businesses remain reluctant to hire new workers.

“We’re looking for policymakers in other areas to do their part,” Bernanke said at the press conference. “We’ll do our part and we’ll try to make sure unemployment moves in the right direction but we can’t solve this problem by ourselves.”

The Fed may have acted Thursday, partly to offset the drag from fiscal policy.

In implementing QE3, the central bank does not use taxpayer money to buy bonds. Rather, it expands the U.S. money supply and electronically credits banks with more funds.

Of the Fed’s 12 voting members, Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker was the only one to oppose Thursday’s decision. He objected against the 2015 forecast and QE3. He has dissented at every Fed meeting since January.

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