Boston Fed chief: States’ rush to reopen slowed US recovery

(AP) — A top official at the Federal Reserve criticized the decision by many states to reopen businesses this spring before getting the virus fully under control, and said those choices have hindered an economic recovery in the U.S.

Eric Rosengren, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, says that states in the South and West that allowed businesses to reopen after shutting down for a brief period did register an initial burst of economic activity. But spikes in infection rates soon followed and economies in those states are now lagging those in the Northeast as consumers have become more cautious.

Rosengren’s comments, delivered online Wednesday, are among the most specific yet by a Fed official tying the health of the economy to the nation’s ability to control the virus.