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The $2.2 trillion stimulus bill just passed by the Senate could not come soon enough and may not even be enough to support the suffocating economy, which may already be in a recession, according to Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell.
"We may well be in a recession" but there is "not anything fundamentally wrong with the economy," he said on the "Today" show Thursday morning. "Confidence will return" when we get the spreading coronavirus under control, he said.
(Related: Senate Passes $2.2T Stimulus Package)
The coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. and globally is not under control. As of Friday, there are more than 550,000 cases globally, including more than 85,000 in the U.S — now No. 1 in cases in the world. More than 25,000 have died globally, including almost 1,300 in the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins University.
The economic toll, due to the shutdown of all but the most essential activities in much of the world, is also growing. In the U.S., 3.28 million people filed for unemployment in the week ended March 21, more than four times the previous record of 695,000 set in 1982, according to Bloomberg.
U.S. financial markets are reacting to the latest news. The three-month U.S. Treasury bill has a negative interest rate of 8 basis points while the 10-year Treasury yield is at 81 basis points. But U.S. stocks are rising in midday after two straight days of gains for the first time in over a month.
