US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen said there are no “red lights flashing” for the financial system, and reiterated her view that the US economy has reached a soft landing even as job growth weakens.
“For the US, the kinds of metrics that we would monitor that would summarize risks — whether it’s asset valuations or a good degree of leverage — things look good, I don’t see red lights flashing,” Yellen said on Saturday at the Texas Tribune Festival.
“I’m attentive to downside risks” on employment, she said, adding that job growth is solid.
Photo: Bloomberg
The Treasury chief spoke a day after US equities capped the biggest weekly selloff since the regional banking crisis in March last year — roiled by a weaker-than-expected gain in payrolls that stoked concern that the US Federal Reserve would prove late to begin lowering interest rates.
The S&P 500 Index slid more than 4 percent last week.
“While there are risks, it really has been amazing to be able to get inflation down as meaningfully as we have” while maintaining strong growth, Yellen said. “This is what most people would call a soft landing.”
Yellen highlighted “wages going up at a decent clip,” surpassing the pace of inflation, along with the lack of any mass layoffs. Monthly job gains are at about the level needed to absorb new entrants to the labor market, she said.
Last month’s jobs release showed US hiring fell short of forecasts, with non-farm payrolls rising 142,000. The three-month average hit the lowest since mid-2020, but the unemployment rate edged down to 4.2 percent, Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed. That was the first decline in five months, reflecting a reversal in temporary layoffs.
Yellen also said she would welcome a visit to the US by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) and is open to another visit of her own to China, as she underscored the importance of the world’s two largest economies engaging with each other.
“I certainly may go back there — I would welcome a visit by my Chinese counterpart, and my guess is that we will have one way or another a visit,” she said.
Yellen met for hours with He during a visit to Beijing in April, continuing the re-engagement between the two nations that began in November last year with US President Joe Biden’s sit-down with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
When an apartment comes up for rent in Germany’s big cities, hundreds of prospective tenants often queue down the street to view it, but the acute shortage of affordable housing is getting scant attention ahead of today’s snap general election. “Housing is one of the main problems for people, but nobody talks about it, nobody takes it seriously,” said Andreas Ibel, president of Build Europe, an association representing housing developers. Migration and the sluggish economy top the list of voters’ concerns, but analysts say housing policy fails to break through as returns on investment take time to register, making the
NOT TO WORRY: Some people are concerned funds might continue moving out of the country, but the central bank said financial account outflows are not unusual in Taiwan Taiwan’s outbound investments hit a new high last year due to investments made by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and other major manufacturers to boost global expansion, the central bank said on Thursday. The net increase in outbound investments last year reached a record US$21.05 billion, while the net increase in outbound investments by Taiwanese residents reached a record US$31.98 billion, central bank data showed. Chen Fei-wen (陳斐紋), deputy director of the central bank’s Department of Economic Research, said the increase was largely due to TSMC’s efforts to expand production in the US and Japan. Investments by Vanguard International
WARNING SHOT: The US president has threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on all imported vehicles, and similar or higher duties on pharmaceuticals and semiconductors US President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested that a trade deal with China was “possible” — a key target in the US leader’s tariffs policy. The US in 2020 had already agreed to “a great trade deal with China” and a new deal was “possible,” Trump said. Trump said he expected Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to visit the US, without giving a timeline for his trip. Trump also said that he was talking to China about TikTok, as the US seeks to broker a sale of the popular app owned by Chinese firm ByteDance Ltd (字節跳動). Trump last week said that he had
STRUGGLING TO SURVIVE: The group is proposing a consortium of investors, with Tesla as the largest backer, and possibly a minority investment by Hon Hai Precision Nissan Motor Co shares jumped after the Financial Times reported that a high-level Japanese group has drawn up plans to seek investment from Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc to aid the struggling automaker. The group believes the electric vehicle (EV) maker is interested in acquiring Nissan’s plants in the US, the newspaper reported, citing people it did not identify. The proposal envisions a consortium of investors, with Tesla as the largest backer, but also includes the possibility of a minority investment by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) to prevent a full takeover by the Apple supplier, the report said. The group is
RSS