Market ralliers: Mnuchin says economy could reopen in May, Fed chairman says recovery to be 'robust'

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said Thursday that he thinks the U.S. could reopen the economy sometime in May.

CNBC host Jim Cramer asked Mnuchin specifically if he thought the country might be “open for business” next month amid the coronavirus shutdown, to which the secretary replied, “I do.”

At the end of April, President Trump will decide whether to soften or extend the social-distancing guidelines – which have slowed virus spread but also shuttered stores, restaurants and other so-called non-essentially parts of the economy. A new Labor Department reports shows the U.S. economy has lost about 16 million jobs as a result of the virus. 

“I think as soon as the president feels comfortable with the medical issues, we are making everything necessary that American companies and American workers can be open for business and that they have the liquidity to operate their business in the interim,” Mnuchin continued.

Trump and his coronavirus task force have expressed cautious optimism this week about the number of reported viruses slowing and that the numbers will begin to plateau and drop in the coming days.

Models throughout the pandemic have consistently been inexact, but some experts say the domestic death toll from the virus is expected to peak on Saturday. U.S. cases are currently hovering at around 430,000.

Chairman of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell made remarks on Thursday morning during a webinar for the Brookings Institution indicating that he expects the post-coronavirus economic recovery to be "robust."

"At the Fed, we are doing all we can to help shepherd the economy through this difficult time," he said. "When the spread of the virus is under control, businesses will reopen, and people will come back to work. There is every reason to believe that the economic rebound, when it comes, can be robust." 

“We have to be on that down side of that slope and heading to a very strong direction that this thing is gone,” said President Trump at his afternoon briefing on Wednesday. “I think we will be sooner rather than later. But we’ll be sitting down with the professionals,” he continued.