Inside the White House, confidence grows that a strong economy will sell itself to Americans

After a year of recession doomsaying, an unexpectedly resilient economy is boosting the White House as it ramps up selling its record to Americans who’ve just started shaking off their “vibecession.”

At the same time, senior administration officials say they’re increasingly confident the situation on the ground can largely speak for itself.The economy grew at a strong 3.1% pace between the fourth quarter of 2022 and the same period last year, every inflation measure is cooling, the job market remains strong and the stock market has hit record highs.

“Extraordinary” is how Lael Brainard, director of the National Economic Council, described the economy to reporters at the White House on Friday.

“We looked historically — we’ve never had a year where inflation has declined this fast while the economy has grown above trend and unemployment has remained stable at a low rate,” she said.

Jared Bernstein, chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said in an interview Friday that the economy is “a growth machine that keeps on delivering,” fueled by a tight labor market, robust consumer spending and rising real wages.

And in a speech Thursday at the Economic Club of Chicago, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen boasted that the United States “now produces far more goods and services than it did before the pandemic,” on the heels of a recovery she called the most equitable on record.

We’ve never had a year where inflation has declined this fast while the economy has grown above trend.

National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard

The dual challenge now for President Joe Biden — and leaders in both his administration and re-election campaign — is to keep those trends humming while getting more Americans to notice them.

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