Weak Jobs Report Puts Pressure on Bernanke

Yesterday's tepid jobs report firms up evidence that the recovery is backsliding and increases the odds that the Federal Reserve will try to give it a jolt, reports the Wall Street Journal. The most likely move by Ben Bernanke would be to buy bonds—or quantitative easing, in econo-speak—with the intent to drive down interest rates, spur investment, and move investors into stocks.

The Journal provides a look into the Fed's "activist" and "hawk" camps, noting that Bernanke has tended to side with the activists of late, especially because hawks' fears of higher inflation haven't materialized. We may get the first hint of what, if anything, is to come when Bernanke testifies on Capitol Hill on July 17-18. The Fed's next policy meeting comes soon after, at the end of the month.