The odds of a recession hitting the U.S. economy are "all at about zero," Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Kevin Hassett said Monday.
"You saw it in the jobs numbers, but income growth is really taking off," Hassett told Fox Business' "Mornings With Maria." "We have the bottom 10% of the income distribution, north of 6% according to our latest estimate...if your income just went up 6 percent, then your consumption should go up by about that this year and I think that that gives us a lot of downside insurance for a bad year.”
On Friday, the Labor Department reported that payrolls rose by 196,000 after a 33,000 advance, and Hassett said Monday the jobs numbers also point that there is a low likelihood for a recession.
"I've got a bunch of models that give you recession odds, and they're all at about zero right now," he told show anchor Maria Bartiromo.
Hassett said Monday he also thinks the growth forecast is on target.
"Right now we're looking at a 2% first quarter." said Hassett. "The thing is that one of the patterns we have seen in the data since 2010 is the first quarter is about 1% below the rest of the year. We are on track to get a 3% year. You saw that in in the jobs numbers too."
He also said he's been waiting for residential numbers to start taking off as another sign of growth.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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