(Reuters) – National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard on Wednesday said the latest U.S. economic data shows that upward price pressures can and are receding without a surge in unemployment that many had feared.
“The economy is defying predictions that inflation wouldn’t fall absent significant job destruction,” Brainard said at an event held by the Economic Club of New York. “Just today we saw new and encouraging evidence that the economy is on the path to moderate inflation accompanied by a resilient jobs market.”
Repeated predictions of a US recession have not come to pass either, Brainard said, noting that the 3% year-over-year increase in consumer prices last month, reported earlier Wednesday, is in line with pre-pandemic norms, even as the unemployment rate has stayed low.
“Our economy remains very resilient and we are seeing inflation come down with a robust job market,” she said.
Brainard was the Fed Vice Chair until she resigned earlier this year to become one of President Joe Biden’s top economic advisors.
(Reporting by Ann Saphir)
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