Not much of a cut and paster. I live in this financial world every day, so most of this is first hand knowledge to me, but here goes a little C&P.

In 1977, Congress amended The Federal Reserve Act, stating the monetary policy objectives of the Federal Reserve as:
"The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Open Market Committee shall maintain long run growth of the monetary and credit aggregates commensurate with the economy's long run potential to increase production, so as to promote effectively the goals of maximum employment, stable prices and moderate long-term interest rates." In a nut shell, control inflation and keep unemployment low.

I believe this strategy will continue to keep rates low for a while. Not sure just how much effect it will have on unemployment. Any other improvement is a side benefit. Most country's have a single edict for their version of the Fed, keep inflation low, so the US is a bit of an anomaly. The inventory of homes is dropping, close to 6 months now. Get that number to 4 months and you'll see some activity in the building sector, and recovery will start.