Treasury chief says full employment is on the horizon

Americans should be back to work by next year, though Biden administration leaders said more needs to be done to get the economy on track. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told lawmakers Tuesday the country has avoided the worst of the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, expressing cautious optimism for the nation's economic outlook.

"With the passage of the Rescue Plan, I am confident that people will reach the other side of this pandemic with the foundations of their lives intact, and I believe they will be met there by a growing economy," Yellen said during her opening statement Tuesday before the House Financial Services Committee. She and Powell testified virtually as part of the committee's oversight of the federal response to the pandemic, their first joint appearance as part of the administration. The Treasury Department is implementing multiple provisions of the $1.9 trillion stimulus package.