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Ben Bernanke told the congressionals Joint Economic Committee that inflation is "somewhat elevated", but it's no reason to expect a rate hike.

In his prepared statement, Bernanke said a lot of things, broken down as follows:

• Economic growth has slowed because of a "substantial correction" in the housing market
• Sub-prime industry problems are self-contained (so far)
• Business spending will pick up this year
• Consumer spending will propel the economy forward
• Inflation is down largely because of energy costs are down

The Fed sets the Fed Funds Rate for the United States and, typically, as FFR increases, the rate at which the economy slows down increases, too.

But, the Fed also has a "secret weapon" to slow down the economy -- worms words.

Every time a Fed official speaks in public, there are countless people dissecting every sentence, phrase and nuance, trying to plan their next move for business or investment.  In this respect, the Fed can creates expectations in the market and that can slow down (or speed up) inflation without technically "doing" anything.

Today's testimony is relatively neutral news for mortgage shoppers -- mortgage rates are unchanged on the day because most of what Chairman Bernanke discussed was already known and priced into mortgage rates.

Dan Green is an active loan officer. Email or call 513-443-2020. Dan is on Twitter at @mortgagereports.