Economy in better shape than doomsayers say: BlackRock exec
NEW YORK – When the bond chief of the world's biggest asset manager looks at the U.S. right now, he sees a lot to like.
A combination of resilient government, corporate and consumer spending, improving homebuilder data, $1.5 trillion in excess savings and low unemployment tell BlackRock's Rick Rieder that the American economy is faring better than many expected.
"I think the U.S. economy's in much better shape than people give credit" for, Rieder said Tuesday at an event at BlackRock's New York headquarters.
"There's this thesis that you will have a dramatic slowdown," he said. "When you break down the numbers, it's just not apparent."
Talk of an impending recession has been building as the impact of the Federal Reserve's interest rate increases ripple through the economy. The collapse of three midsized banks this year have stoked concerns that lenders will rein in access to credit, further slowing down the economy. Still, employment figures have confounded expectations, most recently for April, when nonfarm payrolls jumped by 253,000.
"When people talk about, 'We're going to a recession or a deep recession,' it's pretty unusual [or] almost impossible when you have an unemployment rate of 3.4%," Rieder said.
Source: CNBC
