The Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve said he will be holding off on another round of stimulus for the time being, but told a crowd Friday morning that high unemployment is a “grave concern” and the feds will do more if conditions do not improve.

Ben Bernanke is defending his actions to stimulate the economy, citing studies which show the first two rounds of bond purchases which created at least two million jobs.

The stimulus programs have cost the U.S. government about $2.3-trillion, and have not managed to bring the unemployment rate under eight per cent.

Bernanke said quantitative easing could do more.

The speculation for more stimulus has shifted to the next meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, which meets on September 12 and 13.

The fed’s policy committee, meanwhile, decided that action “would likely be warranted fairly soon” unless it saw evidence of economic strengthening.