March 17, 2021
Jerome H. Powell
March 17, 2021 FOMC Press Conference
- The chair noted that it has been a full year since the pandemic arrived with force on U.S. shores, and that Congress provided the fastest and largest fiscal response to any postwar economic downturn.
- The chair said that employment in the leisure and hospitality sector is more than 3 million below its level at the onset of the pandemic, and that overall employment is 9.5 million below its pre-pandemic level.
- The chair stated that a transitory rise in inflation above 2 percent, as seems likely to occur this year, would not meet the standard for raising interest rates, and that the Fed will wait to see actual data rather than forecasts before tapering asset purchases.
- The chair said that the Fed will have something to announce on the supplementary leverage ratio in coming days, but declined to elaborate on whether the leverage ratio poses problems for implementing monetary policy with large reserve supply.
From the opening statement
Press conference
CHAIR POWELL. Good afternoon. I would like to start by noting that it has been a full year since the pandemic arrived with force on our shores. Looking back, it was clear that addressing a fast-moving global pandemic would be plainly and primarily the realm of health- care providers and experts, and we are grateful to them and to all the essential workers for their service and sacrifice. The danger to the U.S. economy was also clear. Congress provided by far the fastest and largest response to any postwar economic downturn, offering fiscal support for households, businesses, health-care providers, and state and local governments.
Here at the Federal Reserve, we rapidly deployed our full range of tools to provide relief and stability, to ensure that the recovery will be as strong as possible, and to limit lasting damage to the economy. We are strongly committed to achieving the monetary policy goals that Congress has given us: maximum employment and price stability.
The economic fallout has been real and widespread, but with the benefit of perspective, we can say that some of the very worst economic outcomes have been avoided by swift and forceful action—from Congress, from across government, and in cities and towns across the country. More people held on to their jobs, more businesses kept their doors open, and more incomes were saved as a result of these swift and forceful policy actions. And while we welcome these positive developments, no one should be complacent. At the Fed, we will continue to provide the economy the support that it needs for as long as it takes.