US could lose one million jobs in April and recession ‘close to 100 per cent certain’, says ex-Trump economist
President Trump’s former top economic advisor has warned that inaction over coronavirus could lead to to a global economic downturn
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A former chief economic advisor to Donald Trump, Kevin Hassett, has said one million American jobs could be lost in April and the odds of a global recession were now close to 100 per cent.
The ex-chairman of the president’s Council of Economic Advisors told CNN on Monday that the US economy was going to experience a “very terrible” second quarter and was all but certain to contract.
Mr Hassett, who resigned from his White House post in June 2019 over Mr Trump’s tariff plans, predicted that the American economy could fall by five per cent by the end of the second quarter.
“I think the odds of a global recession are close to 100 per cent right now. I think in the US we are going to have a very terrible second quarter you know”, Mr Hassett said.
He added that White House response to coronavirus would impact on whether or not the US could avoid two successive quarters of negative economic growth.
“If you’re going to have a recession you’re going to have two bad quarters, and I think that’s going to depend on whether we get ahead of the curve of the coronavirus and that’s a big unknown right now” said Mr Hassett.
He added: “We think next week there are going to be basically no hires but probably a normal amount of fires, and if that happens you’re looking at one of the largest negative jobs numbers we’ve ever seen.”
That comes as another former top economic advisor to Mr Trump, Gary Cohn, claimed last week that the US economy was already in recession.
The former National Economic Council director told CNN that “We are in a recession right now. We are having negative growth right now.”
Steven Mnuchin, Mr Trump’s Treasury Secretary, said on Sunday that the US would avoid a sharp economic downturn and denied concerns about a recession.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments