Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke says data that show the U.S. economy in recovery doesn't fully capture the tough times felt by many.

Bernanke says that while measures of consumer spending, income and wealth point to improvement, "many individuals and households continue to struggle with difficult economic and financial conditions."

His comments were made during a pre-recorded speech on economic measurement to the International Association for Research in Income and Wealth in Cambridge, Mass.

Bernanke says statistics can sometimes hide important information. He said there has been interesting developments in the study of "well-being" and cited the Kingdom of Bhutan, which abandoned tracking gross national product in 1972 in favor of a measure of happiness.

Bernanke made no comments about Fed policy or the July jobs report released last Friday.