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Even as Americans contend with high inflation and markets remain in bear territory, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says she doesn’t think we’re headed into a recession, pointing to low unemployment as a critical factor.
Speaking to CNN on Thursday, Yellen said: “We’re at a full employment economy. It’s very natural that growth would slow. And it has over the first three quarters of this year, but it continues to be OK. We have a very strong labor market. I don’t see signs of a recession in this economy at this point.”
At the same time, Yellen acknowledged the pain being caused by inflation. “It’s unacceptably high and Americans feel that every day,” she told CNN. She added that efforts to ease that pain and bring inflation down will likely cover “the next couple of years.”
““We have a very strong labor market. I don’t see signs of a recession in this economy at this point.””
Yellen also said the U.S. economy remains stronger than that of many other countries — again, pointing to America’s low unemployment. “If you look around the world, there are a lot of economies that are really suffering not only from high inflation but very weak economic performance, and the United States stands out. We have unemployment at a 50-year low.”
Nevertheless, there are still many who see signs of trouble ahead for the U.S. economy in general — and the stock market in particular. Among them: Billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who spoke at MarketWatch’s recent Best New Ideas in Money Festival. “The worst is yet to come,” Icahn said at the event.
