Janet Yellen Says US Can Still Avoid A Recession: 'We're On The Right Track In Terms Of Lowering Inflation'

The United States can avoid a recession considering the fact that there is no wage-price spiral and supply chain bottlenecks are starting to ease, said U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Thursday, according to a Reuters report.

"Recession is not inevitable," Yellen told reporters following her speech at an event in Fort Worth, Texas, adding that rent prices had peaked and are starting to come down.

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"I believe we're on the right track in terms of lowering inflation and that recession is not inevitable," she said. The U.S. Treasury Secretary also stated she believed recent movements in the dollar's value largely reflected fundamentals. However, Yellen declined to say whether the dollar had peaked against other currencies, the report said.

Major Wall Street indices closed in the green on Thursday after investors and traders questioned the possibility of a continued aggression by the Federal Reserve following the release of the jobless claims data. The number of Americans submitting new claims for unemployment benefits grew marginally last week, marking the eighth straight week of flat or higher continuing jobless claims, the longest trend since the 2009 financial crisis.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY closed 0.78% higher on Thursday while the Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund ETF BND ended 0.28% lower.

Labor Market: The U.S. Treasury Secretary said the heat was starting to come off the labor market as well. Businesses were reducing their expectations for growth and were marginally cutting down on their hiring plans and resignations or "quits" had also fallen, but no significant lay-offs had emerged.

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