Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen Upbeat on U.S. Economy Despite Slower GDP Growth and Inflation Surge

The Commerce Department recently released its initial estimate for U.S. gross domestic product from January through March, which came in weaker than expected at 2.4%. Despite this, Janet Yellen, the Federal Reserve Chair, remained optimistic about the overall performance of the U.S. economy. She emphasized that the current inflation jump did not necessarily require drastic measures in response to maintain stability.

According to the report, GDP growth was below economists’ expectations at 2.4%, which is less than half the pace in the fourth quarter of 2023 due to drags from trade and private inventories.

Yellen also played down the inflation surge, indicating that it did not necessarily call for an increase in unemployment or cooling measures in other areas of the economy to bring inflation back to the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.

Despite these challenges, Yellen expressed a cautious yet positive outlook on the state of the U.S. economy amidst ongoing challenges.