U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testifies before the House Financial Services Committee during the Monetary Policy and the State of the Economy hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., the United States, on Feb. 11, 2020. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

"The path forward will depend on keeping the virus under control, and on policy actions taken at all levels of government," Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 21  -- While the U.S. economy has picked up from its depressed level in the second quarter, the path ahead continues to be "highly uncertain" and depend on the pandemic, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Monday.

"Many economic indicators show marked improvement. Household spending looks to have recovered about three-fourths of its earlier decline," Powell said in prepared testimony, posted Monday on the Fed's website, for a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday.

"Both employment and overall economic activity, however, remain well below their pre-pandemic levels, and the path ahead continues to be highly uncertain," he said.

Powell noted that a full recovery is likely to come only when people are confident that it is safe to reengage in a broad range of activities. "The path forward will depend on keeping the virus under control, and on policy actions taken at all levels of government," he said.