"We feel like we're at a place where the economy is about to start growing much more quickly and job creation coming in much more quickly, so the principal risk to our economy right now really is that the disease would spread again," the chairman said.
Earlier last week, Powell stressed that vaccinations against coronavirus are crucial for securing a successful global economic recovery. The increase in prices in the United States is not expected to be repeated on a yearly basis, Powell said on Thursday.
"We see upward pressure on prices likely to be temporary this year," Powell said, asserting that the Fed has the "tools to deal with inflation if the need arises."
Commenting on the labour market, the US official noted that while millions of people will have a hard time getting back into the workforce "a great deal of scarring" was successfully avoided.