JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said on Thursday that the Federal Reserve was still a work in progress on curbing inflation, while noting that the US economy continued to show signs of strength.
“I have every respect for it [Fed Chair Jerome] Powell, but the fact is we’ve lost a bit of control over inflation,” Dimon said in an interview with CNBC’s Jim Cramer during the Halftime Report. later Thursday on “Mad Money”.
Dimon’s comments came a day after the Fed released minutes from its January 31-February 1 meeting, which showed members remained determined to fight persistent inflation.
“Participants noted that inflation data received over the past three months showed a welcome slowdown in the monthly pace of price increases, but stressed that much more evidence of progress across a broader range of prices was needed to be confident that inflation was sustainable sinks away,” says the record.
Dimon himself said he thinks interest rates could “possibly” stay high for longer, as it could take the central bank “a while” to reach its 2% inflation target.
Despite this, JPMorgan’s CEO said he is not currently ripping open the recession playbook as he is encouraged by the strength of the US economy.
“The US economy is doing pretty well right now. Consumers have lots of money. you spend it Jobs abound,” Dimon said. “That is today. There are some scary things out there ahead of us. You and I know that there is always uncertainty. It’s a normal thing.”
These comments contrast with Dimon’s earlier comments in October. At the time, he said the US economy was likely to fall into recession in six to nine months. In December, he said higher inflation would erode consumer wealth, leading to a recession this year.
The Fed declined to comment on the story.