/ world today news/ While the US economy has grown from its depressed level in the second quarter, the way forward remains “highly uncertain” and depends on the pandemic, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said on Monday.
“Many economic indicators show a significant improvement. Household spending appears to have recovered about three-quarters of its previous decline,” Powell said in prepared materials for a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday, posted Monday on the Fed’s website.
“However, both employment and overall economic activity remain well below their pre-pandemic levels, and the way forward remains highly uncertain,” he said.
Powell noted that full recovery is likely to occur only when people are confident it is safe to re-engage in a wide range of activities. “The way forward will depend on keeping the virus under control and on political action taken at all levels of government,” he said.
Since mid-March, the Fed has helped attract more than $1 trillion in funding that has helped keep organizations from closing. putting them in a better position to retain workers and hire them back as the economy continues to recover, according to Powell.
“We remain committed to using our tools to do what we can for as long as necessary to ensure that the recovery is as strong as possible and to limit the lasting damage to the economy,” he said.
In the second quarter, the U.S. economy shrank by an annualized 31.7 percent, the largest decline since the government began keeping records in 1947, according to the Commerce Department.
A Federal Reserve National Survey released earlier this month showed the US economy grew modestly over the summer amid continued uncertainty about the pandemic and its negative effect on consumer and business activity.
Last week, the Fed kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record low near zero and indicated it would seek to maintain that target range until at least 2023, noting that the path of the economy will depend significantly on the course of the coronavirus epidemic.
Translation: ES
#Fed #chief #Path #economy #remains #highly #uncertain
