Fed can and may do more: Vice Chair Clarida

Getting Americans back to work is the Fed's primary focus

The Federal Reserve is ready to dip into its toolbox once again if necessary.

Federal Reserve Vice Chair Richard Clarida, in an interview with FOX Business' Liz Claman on Friday, said "there is more we can do and I think there is more we will do" to help usher the economy through the post-COVID-19 rebound.

Clarida mentioned maximizing employment as a primary focus of the Fed as the coronavirus has put millions of Americans out of work.

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Initial jobless claims, released on Thursday, for the week ended June 13 totaled 1.51 million, the Labor Department said Thursday, raising the total number of job losses to about 46 million since stay-at-home orders were issued in March.

The U.S. unemployment rate sits at 13.3 percent which dropped in May from 14.7 percent. Still, it is a far cry from pre-coronavirus levels of 3.6 percent.

"We're focused on providing the support the economy needs, it's taken a big hit, it was nobody's fault, we've asked people to step away from the economy, they're coming back," Clarida said.

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