(Reuters) – Gaining a full understanding of how job market dynamics have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic will take some time, U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday.
Powell, speaking at a press conference after the Fed’s latest policy meeting, said this summer’s wave of infections from the Delta variant disrupted what had been a robust pace of recovery in the job market and upended expectations for large job gains to persist as enhanced jobless benefits expired and schools reopened this fall.
People continue to stay out of the job market in part due to COVID-19, he said, and it will take time to see how long that inhibits a fuller recovery in employment and labor market participation.
(Reporting By Dan Burns, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)
