Yellen: U.S. can avoid recession, on 'right track' to lower inflation

[December 09, 2022]  By Andrea Shalal
 
FORT WORTH, Texas (Reuters) - The United States can avoid a recession, given that there is no wage-price spiral and supply chain bottlenecks are starting to ease, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Thursday.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen testifies before a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on President Biden's proposed 2023 U.S. budget, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., June 8, 2022. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

"Recession is not inevitable," Yellen told reporters after speaking at an event in Fort Worth, Texas, adding that rent prices had also peaked and were starting to come down.

Yellen said the heat was starting to come off the labor market as well. Businesses were toning down their expectations for growth and were slightly diminishing their hiring plans and resignations or "quits" had also declined, but no significant layoffs had emerged.

"I believe we're on the right track in terms of lowering inflation and that recession is not inevitable," she said.

Yellen also said she believed that recent movements in the dollar's value largely reflected fundamentals. She declined to say whether the dollar had peaked against other currencies.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Writing by Katharine Jackson; Editing by Tim Ahmann and Sandra Maler)

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