National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo on Monday that he was “100% not” expecting a recession.
“If you look at the jobs numbers, they’re very, very strong,” he added. What’s more, companies have told him that they are moving to onshore as much business as possible and that sales are up as consumers look to make purchases before tariffs affect retail prices, he said.
While the U.S. economy added 228,000 new jobs in March, far more than the 130,000 expected, tariff hikes along with federal job and funding cuts have created broad uncertainty. The stock market has had historic swings in recent weeks, and JPMorgan economists have pegged recession odds at 45%.