As millions lose jobs, Fed policymakers say recession is here

Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan said the US economy is already in a "severe contraction" and forecast that unemployment could rise to the low or mid teens.

(Reuters) - The US recession is here. How long it will last will depend on the course of a viral pandemic that could still kill hundreds of thousands of Americans, and has most of the country under lockdowns aimed at slowing the infection's spread.

But how quickly the world's biggest economy will recover will depend on how much aid the government gives it, and how effectively it can be used to stem what are already millions of job losses, Fed officials said on Thursday.