The Federal Reserve (the Fed) released its monthly job report on Sept. 4, revealing a national unemployment rate of 8.4 percent. This is a  1.9 percent decrease from the 10.3 percent in July. This, compared to the record breaking drops of May and June, begins to signal a leveling off in the economic recovery drawing some concern from economists.

However, Jerome Powell, Fed chairman, still sees this as a good report, according to an interview with NPR. He believes that the economy is going to take years to recover from its historic 14.7 percent unemployment rate. Additionally, he is advocating for the use of masks and social distancing. While he is not a public health official he is of the opinion that if the U.S is able to curb the spread of the virus it will continue to help the economy recover.