- Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said employment in the United States may return to normal in 2022.
- She said a rapid economic recovery depends on whether President Biden’s aid project is approved or not.
- Democrats and Biden have indicated they will approve the package with or without bipartisan support.
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Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the United States could see employment recover to pre-pandemic levels by 2022 if Congress passes President Joe Biden’s coronavirus stimulus package.
“This package will really accelerate the recovery. And analysis by Moody’s and economists at the Brookings Institution shows this very clearly – that we will get people back to work with this package much earlier,” said Yellen on CNN’s “State of the Union” . on Sunday.
“I would hope that, if this package were approved, we would return to full employment next year.”
Yellen also said that the consequences of not approving a robust stimulus project would be dire.
“If we don’t provide additional support, the unemployment rate will remain high for years to come,” said Yellen, citing a report from the Congressional Budget Office. “It would take until 2025 for the unemployment rate to return to 4%. We would have a long and slow recovery like the one we had after the financial crisis.”
The aid package proposed by President Biden would commit $ 1.9 trillion to help state and local governments, finance vaccination efforts, distribute a wave of $ 1,400 stimulus checks and temporarily increase unemployment benefits, among other efforts.
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While it is not the immense infrastructure and job creation law that Biden plans for the future, the aid package will help lift the United States out of the “deep hole” it currently faces in the labor market, Yellen said during an interview on CBS ‘”Face the Nation” on Sunday.
“The expenses this will generate will lead to demand for workers, help put people back to work, especially when we can get the vaccines and the public health situation to the point where the economy starts to open up again,” said Yellen . “I would say this includes aid to state and local governments. We have already seen 1.3 million workers laid off from state and local payrolls because of falling revenue.”
The project also aims to bring women back into the job market through various measures, said Yellen.
“The American rescue package that President Biden has proposed really addresses the problems that women face. He places great emphasis on opening our schools safely, bringing children back to school, providing paid families and sick leave during this crisis, ”she said.
The White House is currently trying to pass the bill in Congress, although it is facing opposition from Republican lawmakers regarding its size. This week, the Senate passed a resolution that would allow approval of the bill by a simple majority, and Biden indicated that he would move forward with the package with or without Republican support.