The US economy, boosted by quickening vaccinations and signs of rapid hiring, is headed toward a strong recovery, US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Thursday.
However, he warned that not all people would immediately benefit.
“There are a number of factors that are coming together to support a brighter outlook for the US economy,” Powell said during the virtual spring meetings of the IMF and the World Bank.
Photo: AP
Those factors are putting the nation “on track to allow a full reopening of the economy fairly soon,” he said.
Still, Powell said that many Americans who are out of work would struggle to find new jobs because some industries would likely be smaller than they were before the COVID-19 pandemic.
In other cases, employers are seeking to use technology instead of workers where possible, he said.
“It’s important to remember we’re not going back to the same economy,” Powell said. “This will be a different economy.”
Powell spoke along with other world economic leaders during the meetings of the two global lending agencies.
WTO Director-General Ngozi Oknojo-Iweala said that an unequal distribution of vaccines could threaten the global economic recovery.
Just 0.1 percent of vaccines have gone to low-income countries, she said.
“If we don’t do something to change the pace at which the poorer countries are getting access to vaccines, it will take a long time to get to herd immunity for the world,” Oknojo-Iweala said.
That, in turn, could threaten those nations already vaccinated by spreading new variants that could push up case counts and reverse economic progress in wealthier countries.
Powell also endorsed the idea of more government investment in the US, although he said that he was not referring to any particular legislation.
US President Joe Biden earlier this week proposed a US$2.3 trillion infrastructure investment package.
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