Soft landing statement from Yellen

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she was increasingly confident that the U.S. can get inflation under control without major damage to the labor market, after data showed a steady slowdown in inflation and an increase in job seekers. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she was increasingly confident that the U.S. can get inflation under control without major damage to the labor market, welcoming data showing a steady slowdown in inflation and an influx of new job seekers. “I feel very good about that forecast. I think you have to say we’re on exactly that kind of path,” Yellen said on Sunday, when asked about her earlier hope that the U.S. could avoid a recession while reining in consumer price gains. Speaking in an interview on a plane returning from the G20 summit in New Delhi, Yellen downplayed any risks from China’s efforts to expand the influence of the breakaway BRICS group of major emerging market economies. “The G-20 continues to be the preeminent forum for global cooperation,” Yellen said. “Every measure of inflation is on a downward trajectory,” she said. Yellen also emphasized that while U.S. unemployment rose in August after hitting its lowest levels in more than half a century earlier this year, the jump was not due to a massive wave of layoffs. “I think they have a pretty broad policy space if they decide it’s necessary to use it,” Yellen said, reiterating her view that policymakers in China could take steps to support the economy as needed. “They’ve made relatively minor adjustments to monetary policy, in my opinion.”