Powell cautions that US is reopening to a ‘different economy’

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday that the U.S. is reopening to a different economy after being devastated by the coronavirus for the past year.

“It’s important to remember we’re not going back to the same economy,” Powell said during meetings with the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, The Associated Press reported. “This will be a different economy.”

Although Powell said he believes that a “brighter outlook for the U.S. economy” is coming, he also said there are still many people who are out of jobs.

When businesses across the country were forced to shut down last year due to the coronavirus outbreak, millions lost their jobs. Although some have recovered since the economy has started to reopened, many will not be able to resume the jobs they had before the pandemic began.

Some industries are struggling to get back to pre-pandemic levels of business while other businesses completely went under over the past year. 

Powell said at the meeting that he thinks the federal government should invest more in the economy, according to the AP, but he believes the country is “on track to allow a full reopening of the economy fairly soon.”

The economy has been gradually reopening as millions get vaccinated against the virus. Industries such as the airline industry have been seeing increased traffic the past few weeks.