Amidst ongoing challenges, Janet Yellen, the U.S. Treasury Secretary, remained optimistic about the overall performance of the U.S. economy after the Commerce Department released a weaker-than-expected initial estimate for U.S. gross domestic product from January through March. The GDP growth was below economists’ expectations at 2.4%, and less than half the pace in the fourth quarter of 2023 due to drags from trade and private inventories.
Despite this, Yellen played down concerns about inflation, stating that it did not necessarily require an increase in unemployment or cooling measures to bring inflation back down to the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.
The report also revealed a concerning increase in inflation, with the personal consumption expenditures price index excluding food and energy rising at a faster pace of 3.7% annually compared to 2.0% in the previous quarter.
Yellen emphasized that while there are challenges to be addressed, she is cautiously optimistic about the state of the U.S. economy and believes that drastic measures are not necessary to maintain stability.
In summary, despite weaker-than-expected GDP growth and rising inflation concerns, Janet Yellen remains optimistic about the overall performance of the U.S. economy and believes that stability can be maintained with cautionary yet positive outlook on ongoing challenges facing our country today.
