Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said progress in reducing unemployment is likely to be "frustratingly slow" and repeated the Fed is ready to take further action to boost the recovery, while refraining from discussing specific steps.

"The U.S. economy has continued to recover, but economic activity appears to have decelerated somewhat during the first half of this year," Bernanke said today in testimony for delivery to the Senate Banking Committee in Washington. The Fed is "prepared to take further action as appropriate to promote a stronger economic recovery," he said.

Bernanke said growth is slowing as business investment cools in response to the European crisis and the prospect of fiscal tightening in the U.S. At the same time, households are restraining spending as unemployment remains elevated and credit is hard to get.