Fed Chair Powell: 'This Is A Good Economy'

Ahead of this year's presidential election, the central bank chief said that unemployment is low, with inflation receding and growth continuing.

The U.S. economy got an unusually blunt endorsement from an unexpected source Wednesday: Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

“This is a good situation. Let’s be honest. This is a good economy,” Powell told reporters Wednesday after the conclusion of a central bank meeting on setting interest rates.

Powell’s praise is likely to be welcomed by the White House as it puts renewed effort into talking up the economy, which remains a weak point for President Joe Biden politically.

Almost all major economic indicators have turned upward in recent months and inflation, the economy’s most visible Achilles’ heel, has even taken a turn for the better. But polls show that the public is only beginning to come around to the idea that the economy is in good shape, with Republicans in particular convinced that it is bad.

An Economist/YouGov poll, conducted from Sunday to Tuesday, found that 42% of respondents approved of Biden’s handling of the economy, compared with 50% who disapproved. By party, though, 78% of Democrats approved, while 83% of Republicans disapproved.