(Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday opened a "Fed Listens" event on how Americans are experiencing the economy, saying the pandemic has had "lasting" effects and that to make good policy the U.S. central bank cannot rely only on macroeconomic data but needs to hear directly from people and businesses.

He did not make any remarks about the outlook for interest rates, which the central bank held steady in the 5.25%-5.5% range at its meeting earlier this week.