By Michael S. Derby 

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans joined with his colleagues, saying he was unworried about the rise in longer-term bond yields.

Mr. Evans on Wednesday told reporters after an appearance the increase in yields is "because of real factors, the vaccine rollout seems to be going up, everybody would like it to be a lot quicker, it seems to be going reasonably well, and that means that the rebound in growth should be that much better."

Mr. Evans, who holds a vote on the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee this year, also said that while market participants appear to be focused on the speed with which long-term Treasury yields rose last week, he felt it was important to take a longer view. He added that long-term yields are still low and compare with where they were a year ago before the pandemic, when the economy was very strong.

Mr. Evans doesn't view the rise in yields as a headwind to growth and didn't call for the Fed to take action to thwart higher borrowing costs, although he said the Fed has policy options if it decided to do so.

Mr. Evans' sanguine assessment of the bond market jibes with other central bank officials. However, on Tuesday, Fed governor Lael Brainard said the long-term Treasury yield surge "caught her eye." She reiterated the economy remains a long way from the Fed's employment and inflation goals, and there was no urgency for central bankers to back away from their near-zero interest rates and bond-buying efforts.

In video remarks, Mr. Evans said he is expecting a strong rebound in the economy this year, and what is now a 6.3% jobless rate could fall to 5% by the end of the year. He added that he doesn't see much risk of an inflation surge to undesirable levels, and wouldn't be averse to inflation moving up to 3% for a time, compared with the Fed's 2% inflation target.

Write to Michael S. Derby at michael.derby@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 03, 2021 16:55 ET (21:55 GMT)

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