JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said that the U.S. Fed lost a little bit of control of inflation, noting that this remains a work in progress for the central bank, but stating that the economy continues to show signs of strength.
In the interview with CNBC’s Jim Cramer, Dimon said that the U.S. economy right now is doing quite well as consumers have a lot of money and they are spending it. Meanwhile, he addressed that jobs are also plentiful.
The CEO expected that interest rates could possibly remain at a higher level and longer as it would take a while for the central bank to bring inflation back to its goal of 2%.
However, his mood and tone was different from what he said late last year that the U.S. economy will likely fall into a recession in six to nine months from October 2022.
The statement between JPMorgan’s CEO and CNBC’s Mad Money’s host came after the Fed released its minutes of its latest meeting, saying that inflation is coming down, but not enough to prevent further interest rate hikes.
The minutes said inflation “remained well above” the Fed’s 2% target. Labor markets “remained very tight, contributing to continuing upward pressures on wages and prices.”
Hence, the Fed approved a 0.25 percentage point rate increase, the smallest since March 2022. The change set the fed funds rate at 4.5%-4.75%. The minutes noted that the slower pace was backed by strong inflation concerns.
The summary restated members’ belief that “ongoing” rate hikes will be required.
