US could restore full employment by 2022, says Yellen

President Joe Biden's USD 1.9 trillion relief plan could generate enough growth to restore full employment by next year in US.  According to the Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen the country was still in a deep hole with millions of lost jobs. Yellen, a former Federal Reserve chair who is the first woman to lead the Treasury Department, said on Sunday the central bank had the tools to handle any potential inflationary threat. She said the urgent need now is to deal with the problems raised by the pandemic-induced recession: joblessness, lost small businesses and reopening schools.

We face a huge economic challenge and tremendous suffering in the country. We have got to address that, Yellen said. That's the biggest risk. The government reported Friday that the economy only created 49,000 jobs in January after having lost jobs in December. Yellen said the recent jobs reports raised fears that the job market is stalling with 10 million people still unemployed and 4 million who have dropped out of the labor market. Yellen said the unemployment rate could remain elevated for years to come and it could take until 2025 to get unemployment back to 4 per cent. The jobless rate stood at a half-century low of 3.9% a year ago before the pandemic hit.She said if Biden's relief package is approved, the country could get back to full employment by next year.There's absolutely no reason why we should suffer through a long, slow recovery, Yellen said.