US unemployment to remain high for years, says Bernanke

The US unemployment rate will not return to pre-financial crisis levels for "several years", Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has said.

Until the economy sees sustained and strong job creation, "we cannot consider the recovery to be truly established", he added.

Mr Bernanke also said the US government budget deficit, which rose sharply during the crisis, was "unsustainable".

The long-term challenges of reducing the deficit were "daunting", he added.