Omicron Poses Risk to Employment, Inflation, Supply Chains, Says Fed Chair Powell

U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell says the emergence of a new CCP virus variant poses a risk to employment and inflation in the country. Powell is set to deliver public remarks—his first on the new variant—before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and Senate lawmakers on Tuesday. The new variant of the novel coronavirus, named Omicron, was first detected by South Africa, the country’s health minister, Joe Phaahla, announced last Thursday. There is growing concern among scientists about what Omicron’s impact might be, given that it has an unusual combination of mutations and may be able to…