THE Federal Reserve remains committed to using all the tools at its disposal to help the U.S. economy recover from the blow delivered by the coronavirus pandemic, Chair Jerome Powell said Monday.

“We remain committed to using our tools to do what we can, for as long as it takes, to ensure that the recovery will be as strong as possible, and to limit lasting damage to the economy,”

Powell said in remarks released ahead of yesterday’s appearance before the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee.

Powell’s summation of the “marked improvement” in the economic landscape largely repeated what he said last week after the Fed’s latest policy meeting, at which policymakers promised to keep interest rates pinned at zero until the economy reaches full employment and inflation is on track to modestly overshoot the central bank’s 2 percent target.

The housing sector has rebounded, consumer spending has recovered about 75 percent of its decline, and about half of the 22 million jobs lost in the crisis have returned, he said. (SD-Agencies)