Yellen downplays US recession risk as economic reports loom

WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says the U.S. economy is slowing but pointed to healthy hiring as proof that it is not yet in recession. Yellen spoke Sunday (July 24, 2022) on NBC’s “Meet the Press” just before a slew of economic reports will be released this week that will shed light on an economy currently besieged by rampant inflation and threatened by higher interest rates. The highest-profile report will likely be Thursday, when the Commerce Department will release its first estimate of the economy’s output in the April-June quarter. Some economists forecast it may show a contraction for the second quarter in a row.