STREAM CHANNEL 9 EYE WITNESS NEWS LIVE « On Friday, a report showed the U.S. added another 372,000 jobs in June, continuing a trend of economic recovery that gave President Biden a rare moment to cheer while acknowledging the pain many are enduring. READ: Elon Musk tells Twitter he’s ending proposed $44 billion takeover. the board digs in This period of high inflation and low unemployment is something that hasn’t been seen in more than 70 years, explained University of Florida economist Dr. Amanda Fallin. “If you’re someone worried about a recession, today’s jobs report was pretty good news. It came in better than expected, we have replaced 98% of the jobs we lost during the pandemic,” he said. “If you’re someone who worries about inflation, this is bad news. Because the economy continues to hum, prices continue to rise.” For much of the past year, Phalin has predicted that inflation would not peak until mid-2022, which she stuck to in her interview on Friday. According to her, the supply chain issues should start to resolve themselves, reducing the pressure on prices. READ: WHO tracks new COVID-19 subline But he said the Biden administration could do more to make it easier, while pushing companies to increase their stockpiles to ensure this post-pandemic situation doesn’t happen again. Phalin slightly upgraded her outlook, saying the odds that the Federal Reserve will be able to bring the nation down from inflation while avoiding a recession — a so-called “soft landing” — were better than before thanks to continued strong jobs numbers. “If the GDP data shows we’re in negative growth, or we’ve had negative growth for two consecutive quarters, a rule of thumb says, yes, we’re in a recession,” he said. “However, our unemployment rate remains very low. It’s not even up, so that means we’re doing just fine.” The story continues READ: Former Japanese leader Shinzo Abe assassinated during speech She summed up her thoughts by saying that the economy was not in bad shape, nor was it in great shape. It was somewhere in between, although a person’s view of it tended to be colored through their political views. While he said it would still be very difficult to avoid a recession since it has never happened before, he said that if one were to happen, it would be much less severe than in 2008. Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, Click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and Click here to stream Channel 9 News live.
