Yellen says recession ‘not completely off the table’ following latest jobs report
by Julia Mueller - 07/09/23 8:07 AM ETTreasury Secretary Janet Yellen in an interview from Beijing would not rule out any potential recession in the U.S. following the latest jobs report that showed a slowdown in the labor market.
“It’s not completely off the table,” Yellen said when asked what the odds are of a potential recession on CBS News’s “Face the Nation,” in an interview to be aired on Sunday.
“But we would expect, with the job market as strong as it is now, to see a slower pace of ongoing job gains. Prime age labor force participation is at the highest level in several decades, so we’ve seen this strong job market attract workers back to it. But as- as that stabilizes at a high level, we should expect the monthly job gains to be coming down toward a more normal level,” Yellen said.
The June jobs report found the nation’s unemployment rate fell to 3.6 percent as the economy added 209,000 jobs — marking the fewest jobs added since December 2020. Still, the jobless rate was down from 3.7 percent in May.
The Federal Reserve has implemented aggressive interest rate hikes to try and tamp down high inflation amid fears of a possible recession. The numbers in the new job report could indicate more rate hikes to come.
more
https://thehill.com/business/4087450-yellen-says-recession-not-completely-off-the-table-following-latest-jobs-report/