White House Economic Advisor Jared Bernstein made an appearance at the daily press briefing Monday afternoon and argued the U.S. economy is set for expansion by the end of the month.
Biden Economic Adviser Jared Bernstein:
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 18, 2022
"If you look at the strength of the current economy...you would conclude that where we are right now remains solidly within expansion." pic.twitter.com/dHBGWCaRrL
But according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, the U.S. is already in a recession after two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth.
"The GDPNow model estimate for real GDP growth (seasonally adjusted annual rate) in the second quarter of 2022 is -1.5 percent on July 15, down from -1.2 percent on July 8. After recent releases from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US Census Bureau, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, and the US Department of the Treasury's Bureau of the Fiscal Service, the nowcast of second-quarter real personal consumption expenditures growth and real gross private domestic investment growth decreased from 1.9 percent and -13.7 percent, respectively, to 1.5 percent and -13.8 percent, respectively," the bank stated in an update on July 15.
The next GDP update is set for Tuesday, July 19, 2022.
Numbers from earlier in the month confirmed the negative growth, prompting many to declare the recession has begun -- even if the Federal Reserve and politicians in Washington won't officially admit it.
Today is technically the first day of recession.
— Patrick Bet-David (@patrickbetdavid) July 1, 2022
If you have a solid plan, future looks bright.
If you don't have a plan, get a solid plan.
If you don't care to have a plan, then netflix & chill.
Either way, recession is here.
pic.twitter.com/jGsmwq4CkK
Meanwhile, Americans are bracing for an economic slowdown.
The overwhelming majority of Americans (85 percent) think it is either very likely (45 percent) or somewhat likely (40 percent) that there will be an economic recession in the next year, while 12 percent think it is either not so likely (8 percent) or not likely at all (4 percent).
Roughly 1 in 5 Americans (19 percent) say the state of the nation's economy these days is either excellent (2 percent) or good (17 percent), while 4 in 5 Americans (80 percent) say it's either not so good (34 percent) or poor (46 percent). This is Americans' most negative description of the state of the nation's economy in a Quinnipiac University poll since President Biden took office.
When asked how much control a president has over inflation, 29 percent of Americans say a lot and 38 percent say some, while 23 percent say only a little and 10 percent say none at all.