Fed projections show it sees smaller economic hit in 2020 than previously expected

The Federal Reserve signaled on Wednesday it expects the U.S. economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis to accelerate with unemployment falling faster than the central bank expected in June.

In new economic projections released along with the U.S. central bank’s latest policy statement, Fed policymakers at the median see economic growth dropping by 3.7 per cent this year, an improvement from the 6.5 per cent drop projected in June.

The Fed also expects that the unemployment rate, which has improved faster than officials foresaw in June, will continue to drop, with policymakers at the median expecting joblessness to hit 7.6% at the end of this year and fall to 4 per cent in 2023.

Inflation is expected to remain below 2 per cent until 2023. The Fed last month unveiled a new strategy that pledges to lift inflation above the 2 per cent level to make up for years of undershooting that target.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.