The post Can America really avoid recession for the second time in a year? appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

America’s economy is on everyone’s mind again, as investors lose their cool over the idea of another recession.  The global sell-off in stocks that kicked off on Friday has carried on this week, all thanks to worries about the US economy. A jobs report that didn’t quite hit the mark only added fuel to the fire. Stock prices took a nosedive, and investors are pointing fingers at the US Federal Reserve. They’re not happy that interest rates are still high, sitting between 5.25% and 5.5%, even though the economy seems to be cooling off.  Headquarters of the Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C. But don’t panic just yet. Most economists think the US can pull off a “soft landing.” This means inflation could drop to the Fed’s 2% goal without sending unemployment through the roof. What the economists are saying Jason Furman, a former White House economist now teaching at Harvard, says: “Other than the unemployment rate, almost every real economy indicator is growing, some of them going strongly.”  Jason believes that those predicting a recession are overestimating their knowledge of the economy’s inner workings.  The last jobs report marked the fourth month in a row that the unemployment rate increased, now at 4.3%. Weak results from big companies like McDonald’s and Diageo suggest that the US consumer isn’t feeling too confident.  This has some analysts worried that a US recession could be severe enough to impact the global economy. “Once you start to worry about recession, you are usually in a recession,” says Andrew Hollenhorst, an economist at Citi.  He adds that once the unemployment rate starts to rise, temporary layoffs can become permanent. The recent data has put pressure on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) to cut rates at their next meeting in September. So far, the rate-setters are…

---

Filed under: News - @ August 8, 2024 10:18 am