- South Korea president clings to power after martial law U-turn
- Presidential vote seen as referendum on Romania's European future
- Hamilton bids farewell to Mercedes as Ferrari vie for title
- New Zealand unchanged in bid to hit back against England
- Macron seeks remedy to France's political crisis
- New Natalia Lafourcade album celebrates music's onstage evolutions
- Taiwan's Lai kicks off visit to US territory Guam
- Ivory Coast staple cassava meal gains UNESCO heritage status
- OpenAI to partner with military defense tech company
- Liverpool held but Slot salutes 'special' Salah
- Man City needed to break losing 'routine', says Guardiola
- Leipzig down Frankfurt to reach German Cup quarters, Cologne strike late
- Mbappe admits penalty miss 'big mistake' as Bilbao beat Real Madrid
- 'Sad, disappointed' Mbappe pays penalty as Bilbao beat Real Madrid
- US stocks surge to records, shrugging off upheaval in South Korea, France
- Liverpool held in Newcastle thriller, Arsenal inflict Amorim's first defeat
- Shiffrin confirms she'll miss Beaver Creek World Cup races
- Corner kings Arsenal beat Man Utd to close gap on Liverpool
- Mbappe pays penalty as Bilbao beat Real Madrid
- NFL Jaguars place Lawrence on injured reserve with concussion
- North Korea, Russia defence treaty comes into force
- Openda hits brace as Leipzig beat Frankfurt in German Cup last 16
- Schar punishes Kelleher blunder as Newcastle hold Liverpool in thriller
- De Bruyne masterclass helps Man City end seven-game winless streak
- Syrian rebels surround Hama 'from three sides', monitor says
- Lawyers seek leniency for France rape trial defendants, blaming 'wolf' husband
- OpenAI chief 'believes' Musk will not abuse government power
- Thousands rally in Georgia after police raid opposition offices
- S. Korea opposition push to impeach president
- Powell 'not concerned' US Fed would lose independence under Trump
- French government falls in historic no-confidence vote
- Syrian White Helmets chief 'dreams' of never pulling a body out of rubble again
- NBA Suns lose Durant for at least a week with ankle injury
- Warhammer maker Games Workshop enters London's top stocks index
- Iran Nobel winner released for three weeks, 'unconditional' freedom urged
- Red Cross marks record numbers of humanitarians killed in 2024
- Johnson's Grand Slam 'no threat', says World Athletics boss Coe
- Qatar's emir and UK's Starmer talk trade as state visit ends
- Cuba suffers third nationwide blackout in two months
- Russia, Ukraine to send top diplomats to OSCE summit in Malta
- Spanish royals to attend memorial service for flood victims
- LPGA, USGA new policy requires female at birth or pre-puberty change
- Stick to current climate change laws, US tells top UN court
- British Museum chief says Marbles deal with Greece 'some distance' away
- Pope Francis receives electric popemobile from Mercedes
- Gaza civil defence: thousands flee Israeli strikes, evacuation calls
- Trump names billionaire private astronaut as next NASA chief
- Pidcock to leave INEOS Grenadiers at end of season
- Seoul stocks weaken, Paris advances despite political turmoil
- South America summit hopes to seal 'historic' trade deal with EU
Omicron will pinch, not derail US economic growth: Yellen
The latest coronavirus variant will weigh on US economic growth in the months ahead but will not derail it, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen assured the nation's mayors Wednesday as they gathered in Washington.
"Yes, Omicron has presented a challenge and will likely impact some of the data in the coming months, but I am confident it will not derail what has been one of the strongest periods of economic growth in a century," Yellen said.
"None of this was guaranteed. I think it's important we recognize that," she added in her appearance before the US Conference of Mayors.
"There's a very real counterfactual where Omicron did derail our recovery; a scenario where the new variant hurdled our economy backwards towards its state on Inauguration Day 2021" when Joe Biden assumed the presidency.
The Omicron variant has led to a surge in infections and quarantine cases, keeping many Americans away from their jobs.
Airlines, for example, have cancelled thousands of flights since Christmas due to staff shortages.
As a result of the Covid-19 surge, growth is expected to slow in the first quarter of 2022, economists forecast.
But Yellen insisted the American Rescue Plan passed by Congress in March 2021 under the impetus of Biden, just weeks into his White House job, "acted like a vaccine for the American economy, protecting our recovery from the possibility of new variants."
"The protection wasn't complete, but it was very strong -- and it prevented communities from suffering the most severe economic effects of Omicron and Delta," she said, noting that $350 billion in emergency funding was funneled to local governments.
The first year of the pandemic "decimated government budgets" and forced mass layoffs and the collective furlough of some 1.3 million workers including teachers and health care workers deemed essential personnel, Yellen said.
But the funding allowed communities to better prepare against and battle Omicron when it began spreading, she added.
M.Odermatt--BTB