U.S. economic recovery from the novel coronavirus epidemic will be challenging, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said in a speech Friday.

“The U.S. economic recovery from the novel coronavirus epidemic is set to be challenging and there will be no quick fix,” he said.

“We will make our way back from this, but it will take time and work. ... The path ahead is likely to be challenging. Lives and livelihoods have been lost, and uncertainty looms large. “

According to The New York Times, “in two separate appearances last week before lawmakers in the U.S. Congress, Powell made plain that the United States faces a long overall recovery despite recent encouraging economic data on job gains and consumer spending.”

The central bank already made clear it expects a full economic healing from the impact of the virus to take years as it kept interest rate near zero at its latest policy meeting.

But nascent signs of recovery in U.S. economic data, with better-than-expected job gains and retail sales for the month of May, had fueled some hopes that the United States could bounce back more quickly.

St. Louis Federal Reserve bank President James Bullard said that he “was hopeful the worst of the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic may have passed in April, but the U.S. economy is not yet in the clear. I definitely don’t think we’re out of the woods. We’re still at a high, high risk level here.”

Two other Federal Reserve officials also sounded increasing pessimism Friday on the swiftness of any economic recovery from the novel coronavirus epidemic and warned the unemployment rate could rise again if the disease is not brought under control.

Fed officials pushed back on that view Friday and cautioned against reopening the economy too hastily after the end of state lockdowns aimed at containing the virus.

“This lack of containment could ultimately lead to a need for more prolonged shutdowns, which result in reduced consumption and investment, and higher unemployment,” Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren said in a virtual event.

Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari also said the economic recovery would take longer than he had hoped just a few months ago, and warned the recent positive trend on job gains could soon be reversed if the virus is not tamed soon.

“Unfortunately, my base case scenario is that we will see a second wave of the virus across the United States, probably this fall,” Kashkari said during a Twitter chat moderated by CBS News. “If there is a second wave, I would expect the unemployment rate to climb again.”

Powell, Rosengren and others have all said more fiscal and monetary policy support is likely needed to help them. Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida said Friday “there’s more that we can do, I think there’s more that we will do.”

Clarida added there is no limit to the Fed’s potential purchases of Treasury securities or mortgage-backed securities.

U.S. Congress has allocated nearly US$3 trillion for coronavirus-related economic aid.

(SD-Agencies)