Jerome Powell on the Recovery
On Thursday, Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell gave updates on the state of the economic recovery in the U.S.
The United States economy is seemingly on the road to recovery. The jobs report in March beat expectations, and other signs suggest that demand is recovering due to reopening’s and fresh stimulus checks. Additionally, hospitalization and infection rates in the U.S. continue to fall as more people get vaccinated.
Although the economy is seeing growth in jobs, Jerome Powell said a full recovery from the recession wouldn’t be as easy as regaining every lost job — there’s still a lot of work to do before the country returns to its usual self. He said, “The real concern is that longer-term unemployment can allow people’s skills to atrophy, their connections to the labor market to dwindle, and they have a hard time getting back to work.”
Powell also emphasized how we are not going back to the same economy. Changes that occurred during the pandemic pose significant obstacles to a complete recovery of the job market. For example, many companies automated employment during the pandemic and Powell believes that not all those jobs will return when the nation reopens.
9 or 10 million people are out of work in the U.S., and Powell emphasized the importance of supporting them. He said policymakers should make programs and policies that “particularly invest in people, so that they can take part in, contribute to, and benefit from the prosperity of our economy.”
I am not a financial advisor and my comments should never be taken as financial advice. Investments come with risk, so always do your research and analysis beforehand.
