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WASHINGTON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden said
on Wednesday he did not believe the U.S. economy will fall into
recession either this year or next year, his most confident
prediction on the fate of an economy that is still rattled by
fears of a downturn.
Asked in an interview on the PBS NewsHour program whether he
thought there would be a recession this year, Biden responded:
"No, or next year. From the moment I got elected, how many of
the experts are saying within the next six months there's gonna
be recession?"
Economists for months have been warning of a possible
recession as the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates in
order to tame decades-high inflation.
Biden himself has said a recession was possible, and
earlier this week he told reporters that the risk was
very low.
On the whole, economic data in recent months has moved
in the president's favor, particularly after inflation spiked to
a 40-year high last summer and government reports showed the
U.S. economy could be heading into a recession.
Strong job numbers last week, which occurred despite
layoffs in the technology sector as well as in
interest-rate-sensitive sectors like housing and finance, poured
cold water on market expectations that the U.S. central bank was
close to pausing its monetary policy tightening cycle.
(Reporting by Eric Beech and Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Leslie
Adler)
Messaging: eric.beech.reuters.com@reuters.net))
