There are many unknowns about the latest COVID-19 variant, including how it may impact the economy. That’s the assessment of Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve. The topic was supposed to be about the administration’s financial response to the pandemic, but much of the questioning focused on supply-chain issues and inflation. Tuesday, during testimony before a Senate committee, Powell acknowledged that inflation may stick around longer than the Fed first expected.
Meanwhile, the chief economist of New Jersey-based ADP says it’s too early to tell if the omicron variant will slow the recovery in jobs in the coming months. Up until now, the recovery has been strong. New data out today from ADP shows private companies added 534,000 new jobs last month, which was ahead of estimates. There was strong hiring in the travel and tourism business, which up until now, was bouncing back from a falloff in business due to the pandemic.
Meantime, a survey of corporate executives — taken right before we learned about the latest COVID variant— showed strong optimism. The poll by the Business Roundtable showed CEOs were planning to step up their hiring even further over the next few months.
A significant step forward for the Hudson River Tunnel project: The Gateway Development Commission says the project has received final regulatory approval, the last hurdle before construction can begin. But now, there’s a wait to get billions in federal funding in place. Once that happens, construction could start in 2023.
