Economy Is Showing Sustained Progress, Powell Says – The Wall Street Journal

WASHINGTONFederal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Monday that job growth should pick up in coming months and temporary inflation pressures should ease as the economy continues to recover from the effects of the pandemic.

The economy has shown sustained improvement, Mr. Powell said in testimony prepared for delivery Tuesday on Capitol Hill, noting progress on vaccinations and vast stimulus efforts by Congress and the Fed.

Mr. Powell is set to appear before the House Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis to discuss the Feds efforts to shore up the economy since the start of the pandemic.

The hearing aims to focus on lessons learned by the Fed, which rolled out a blitz of extraordinary lending programs early in the health crisis. These included efforts to calm market turmoil, suppress borrowing costs and lend money directly to some businesses and local governments. The programs wound down at the end of 2020.

Mr. Powell said the lending programs helped unlock more than $2 trillion of funding that reduced job losses at businesses, nonprofits and local governments.

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Economy Is Showing Sustained Progress, Powell Says - The Wall Street Journal