The economy will recover in the coming months, even without further aid from Congressional stimulus, but employment levels are not expected to fully recover until 2024, the Congressional Budget Office predicted on Monday.
Much of the economic recovery depends on the pace of vaccinations, the effectiveness of fiscal and monetary policies to contain the pandemic and the evolution of the coronavirus as new strains emerge in the U.S., the independent budget office said in its latest economic projections.
The economy is expected to grow “rapidly” by 4.6% this year, continuing to expand over the next decade. The unemployment rate will drop from 6.8 percent in 2020 to 5.3 percent this year, with the number of employed people returning to pre-pandemic levels in 2024, the CBO predicted.