The FOMC stated that it expects it will be appropriate to maintain this target range until labor market conditions have reached levels consistent with its assessments of maximum employment and inflation has risen to 2 percent and is on track to moderately exceed 2 percent for some time.7 In addition, the Federal Reserve will continue to increase its holdings of Treasury securities by at least $ billion per month and of agency mortgage backed securities by at least $ billion per month until substantial further progress has been made toward the Committee’s maximum employment and price stability goals. In other words: Despite uncertainties, we are fully committed to supporting the economy through this period and reaching our maximum employment and price stability goals. We will continue to watch and learn and remain committed to using our full range of tools to help assure that the recovery will be as robust as possible. Conclusion I’ll conclude with this: Despite the progress so far in recovering from the recession, some of the numbers that I’ve shared are staggering. Families, businesses, and communities are struggling. Almost a year into the pandemic, there is still so much uncertainty. But despite the near-term challenges, the longer-term outlook for the economy has improved, and our actions of the past year position monetary policy well to support a strong, full recovery and achievement of our goals of maximum employment and price stability. With this progress in mind, I am hopeful for a time soon that looks “more like normal." Thank you.
John C Williams: The economic outlook- getting back to "more like normal" Remarks (via videoconference) by Mr John C Williams, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, at One Hundred Black Men of New York, 25 February 2021. * * * Hello, everyone. I’m really pleased to be joining your meeting today. Your work in bringing together leaders and visionaries in support of Black communities across our city is invaluable. We’re approaching the one-year mark since the pandemic took hold. At this time last year there was an increasing sense of fear and uncertainty about the future. And the events since then have posed tremendous challenges to families, communities, and the economy. The ongoing human toll is a tragedy we won’t forget in our lifetimes. What has been an extraordinary public health crisis also has had profound consequences for the American and global economies. The cause of this recession—a global pandemic—means that our economic future will be determined in large part by the path of the virus and our collective success in overcoming it. We still face many hurdles on the road to recovery from both COVID-19 and the severe economic hardship that has ensued. A lot depends on the success in quickly getting a large part of the public vaccinated against a backdrop of the spread of emerging new strains of the virus. Despite these challenges and uncertainties, I have become more optimistic about the mediumterm outlook for the economy.