The U.S. economy depends on the Covid situation, Powell said.

[Vison]

The U.S. economy depends on the Covid situation, Powell said.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell made a statement to the media after the end of a monetary policy meeting last night: The future of the US economy will remain dependent on the COVID-19 epidemic situation. With said Number of people infected with COVID-19 That has increased dramatically recently. Including the number of hospital admissions and the number of deaths increased. It is affecting millions of Americans. It also puts pressure on economic activities and employment.

Powell said: After a strong rebound in economic activity in the summer of last year. The economy has recovered little in the past few months. The slowdown in economic activity concentrated in the sectors hardest hit by the new COVID-19 epidemic. Including the use of more stringent social spacing measures

    “The economy is still far from the Fed's employment and inflation targets. We expect it may take some time before we can achieve this sustainably, ”Powell said.

Powell stated that The participation rate in the labor market is now lower than the pre-epidemic level. And the real unemployment rate moves closer to 10%, meaning that Over 9 million Americans remain unemployed as a result of the epidemic COVID-19.

Mr. Powell said that Fiscal policy is imperative, adding that economic activity has recovered since the spring of last year. This is partly due to the federal government increasing spending to stimulate the economy and expand unemployment assistance programs. Which is an important factor that supports many households and people

Powell, however, expressed a positive view on this year's economic outlook, saying: "The vaccination of people is broad and effective. It will help us overcome the epidemic and will help return to normal economic activity. In the meantime Social spacing And wearing a mask It will help us to achieve our goals soon. "