US economy perhaps needs another year to return to pre-pandemic peak: Fed vice chairman - Global Times

It will take perhaps another year for the US gross domestic product (GDP) to get back to its pre-pandemic peak, Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida said Wednesday.

"The COVID-19 recession threw the economy into a very deep hole, and it will take some time, perhaps another year, for the level of GDP to fully recover to its previous 2019 peak," Clarida said in remarks for the virtual annual meeting of the Institute of International Finance.

"It will likely take even longer than that for the unemployment rate to return to a level consistent with our maximum-employment mandate," Clarida said, adding full economic recovery from the COVID-19 recession has a long way to go.

"Although the unemployment rate has declined sharply since April, it remains elevated as of September at 7.9 percent and would be about 3 percentage points higher if labor force participation remained at February 2020 levels," he said, noting additional support from monetary and fiscal policies will be needed.