Yellen says U.S. economy remains solid, on path to 'soft landing' with no meaningful layoffs

• Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that she believes the U.S. economy is healthy and that recent months of cooler jobs data is a signal of a soft landing, not a recession.
• Yellen said the U.S. is not seeing meaningful layoffs and the economy is "deep into a recovery."

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen sought to reassure the public on Saturday that the U.S. economy remains strong, despite a string of weak job reports that have rattled investors and weighed on the stock market.

"We're seeing less frenzy in terms of hiring and job openings, but we're not seeing meaningful layoffs," Yellen said at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin. "I'm attentive to downside risk now on the employment side, but what I think we're seeing, and hope we will continue to see, is a good, solid economy."

Yellen said job growth has slowed compared to the "hiring frenzy" when the U.S. reopened after the Covid-19 pandemic, but the economy is "deep into a recovery" and "basically operating at full employment."

The treasury secretary's comments come a day after the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported another month of cooler-than-expected jobs data.

Nonfarm payrolls, a measure of U.S. job creation, increased by 142,000 in August, lower than the Dow Jones forecast of 161,000. The miss renewed worries about a slowing labor market, with the S&P 500 falling Friday to finish out the worst week since March 2023.

The unemployment rate, however, edged lower to 4.2% and job growth in August was higher than July. The stock market sold off steeply early last month, after the weak July report touched off renewed fears of a recession in the U.S.

Yellen on Saturday tried to calm jitters about the state of the economy: "I don't see red lights flashing."

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