Former Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen on Monday said that she believes the economy could enjoy a “V-shaped” recovery, meaning a very rapid one, but that it would depend on the severity and length of the pandemic-related shutdowns.
“I think a ‘V’ is possible, but I am worried that the outcome will be worse, and it really depends to my mind on just how much damage is done during the time that the economy is shut down in the way it is now,” she told CNBC.
She also said that the unemployment rate would likely already be above 12% if the United States had a “timely unemployment statistic.”
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The unemployment rate for March was 4.4%, the Labor Department reported Friday, but that survey only captured responses from the first half of the month. It didn’t reflect the 10 million workers who applied for unemployment in the last two weeks of March.
Yellen also does not see the current crisis lasting as long as the Great Depression.
“If we’re successful in supporting people’s incomes during this time … I believe we will be able to get back to a normal, functioning economy in much shorter order than the Great Depression,” she said.
