Even with tens of millions of jobs lost and a historic decline in output projected this quarter, the U.S. economy could still pull off a relatively quick recovery, Dallas Federal Reserve President Robert Kaplan said on Thursday.
The total 2.981 million new claims for unemployment insurance brought the coronavirus crisis count to nearly 36.5 million, though the weekly trend continued lower.
U.S. import prices fell by the most in more than five years in April as the coronavirus crisis depressed demand for petroleum products, which could strengthen some economists' predictions of a brief period of deflation.
But negative interest rates wouldn't be "very helpful" to the economy, said Zach Pandl, co-head of global foreign exchange, rates and emerging markets strategy at Goldman Sachs.
Five percent to 10% of pre-Covid-19 demand could be decimated permanently, as "lost store volume can't entirely be made up online," Wells Fargo retail analyst Ike Boruchow said.
Mester echoed Chairman Jerome Powell's mostly pessimistic view on the economy, telling CNBC on Wednesday that while growth is likely to return by the end of the year, it could be slow.
The House subcommittee tasked with overseeing the country's coronavirus response is scheduled to hold its first briefing on Wednesday where members will discuss reopening the nation's economy.
"The worst thing that could happen," economically, is that a country reopens and then has to shut down again to respond to a resurgence of the virus, said WHO official Dr. Mike Ryan.
Roughly 1.8 million residents struggling with unemployment due to the coronavirus pandemic have filed claims, roughly six times the number of claims filed during the 2008 financial crisis, officials said.
Powell noted the unprecedented strength of fiscal and monetary measures already taken but stressed the need to make sure that the deepest slump since the Great Depression does not get out of control.