Fed Chair Jerome Powell says the coronavirus recession has been a 'great increaser of income inequality' — with low-paid workers and women bearing the brunt of the fallout
Chairman of the Federal Reserve nominee Jerome Powell testifies during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee November 28, 2017 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the pandemic was "a great increaser of inequality" at an online event hosted by Princeton University.He singled out women and hourly workers in the service industries as the segment of the population weathering the brunt of the fallout.Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Friday that the economic downturn inflicted by the pandemic is slamming low-wage workers and women the hardest and accelerating inequality in America. "The pandemic is falling on those least able to bear its burdens," he said during an online event hosted by Princeton University. "It is a great increaser of inequality." He added: "It is low-paid workers in the service industries who are bearing the brunt of this, it is also women to an extraordinary degree." Powell staunchly defended against the idea the Fed's response to the pandemic would wind up increasing inequality as it extend loans to large firms, saying "absolutely not" and arguing it was instead geared toward saving jobs. "Everything we do is focused on creating an environment in which those people will have the best chance to keep their job or get a new job, or go back to their old job if they've been furloughed," he said. The comments come as the pandemic's impact has disproportionately impacted minimum-wage workers, many of whom lost jobs as restaurants and other businesses with regular close-contact closed their doors to curb the coronavirus's spread.
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