U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell says the emergence of a new CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus variant poses a risk to employment and inflation in the country. Powell is set to deliver public remarks—his first on the new variant—before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and Senate lawmakers on Tuesday. The new variant of the novel coronavirus, named Omicron, was first detected by South Africa, the country’s health minister, Joe Phaahla, announced last Thursday. There is growing concern among scientists about what Omicron’s impact might be, given that it has an unusual combination of mutations and may be able to evade immune responses or be more transmissible. “The recent rise in COVID-19 cases and the emergence of the Omicron variant pose downside risks to employment and economic activity, and increased uncertainty for inflation,” Powell said in prepared testimony released on Monday. “Greater concerns about the virus could reduce people’s willingness to work in person, …