Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Sunday that the US job market is stalling and might not recover for years without the support promised by President Joe Biden’s pandemic relief package, news agency AFP reported. “We’re in a deep hole with respect to the on the market and a long way to dig out,” Yellen said, citing the employment figures.

However, in another interview, she expressed hope, saying that if Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion package is passed, “we would get back to full employment next year.”

Without that support, she said, “the unemployment rate is going to stay elevated for years,” perhaps not again reaching four percent until 2025.

Yellen also said millions of Americans are going hungry or risk losing their homes.

“We need a big package, and we need to get this done quickly,” she told CNN.

“I don’t have specifics for you today,” she told CBS. “These are matters that President Biden is discussing with members of Congress and is open to doing what is appropriate.”

Yellen, the first female Treasury secretary in US history, noted that women — and especially women of color — had been particularly hard hit as the coronavirus pandemic forces them to balance jobs and childcare responsibilities.

She said the relief package would help them by providing funds to safely reopen schools and provide paid family leave.