Loretta Mester, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland spoke earlier:

More again from Mester, remarks to media following here earlier speech and Q&A (Headlines via Reuters)

  • says US economy will grow by 6% or more this year and unemployment rate will drop to 4.5% or lower by year-end
  • labor market conditions will improve if there is not a surge in virus variants resistant to vaccines
  • vaccinations, school reopenings and child-care will be important to getting people back to work
  • economic growth will be strong in second half of year
  • economy has a long ways to go and it will take time to get back to a broad-based sustainable recovery
  • prices are going to stabilize or come down as supply chain disruptions are solved