JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said Thursday that containing inflation remains a work in progress for the Federal Reserve, while noting that the U.S. economy continues to show signs of strength.
“I have all the respect for [Fed Chair Jerome] Powell, but the thing is, we’ve gotten a little bit out of control with inflation,” Dimon said in an interview with CNBC’s Jim Cramer on the “half time report. “This is the first of a two-part interview with Cramer, with the second episode airing later Thursday on”mad money.”
Dimon’s comments came a day after the The Fed released the minutes of its January 31-February 1 meetingwhich showed that members remained committed to tackling persistent inflation.
“Participants noted that inflation data received over the past three months showed a welcome reduction in the monthly pace of price increases, but stressed that much more evidence of progress across a wider range of prices to be confident that inflation was on a sustained downward path,” the minutes read.
Dimon himself has said he expects interest rates can “eventually” stay higher for longer as it may take “some time” for the central bank to reach its target of 2% inflation.
Even so, the JPMorgan CEO said he’s not pulling the recession playbook out, as he’s encouraged by the strength of the US economy.
“The US economy is doing pretty well right now. Consumers have a lot of money. They’re spending it. The jobs are a lot,” Dimon said. “It’s today. Ahead of us is some scary stuff. You and I know there’s always uncertainty. It’s a normal thing.”
These comments contrast with Dimon’s earlier remarks in October. At that time, he said the US economy will likely fall into a recession in six to nine months. In December, he said rising inflation was eroding consumer wealth, which cause a recession this year.
The Fed declined to comment on the story.