Fed's Evans: Fed is prepared to do everything it can to support employment

The Federal Reserve is prepared to do everything it can to support employment, Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans said on Monday.

Additional takeaways

"We are funnelling a lot of fiscal activities through banks, so it's important that banks are safe and sound."

"It's unlikely we will see a substantial increase in inflation over the next several years."

"Some products could become more expensive, but overall high unemployment reduces demand and inflation."

"Even if we saw inflation rise above 2% that would not be a problem at all."

"Housing could contribute, potentially strongly, to the recovery."

"It's very important to get public health safety issue solved; if so, expect unemployment rate to come down sharply."

"Expecting the unemployment rate to fall to 9% this year; if it comes down to 5% next year that would be good."

"Anything that leads to a second or third wave of the virus would be a worse outcome for the economy."

"Wearing masks is a big part of reducing infections."

Market reaction

After starting the day sharply lower, Wall Street's main indexes gained traction in the last couple of hours. As of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat on the day while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were gaining 0.32% and 1%, respectively.