President Joe Biden said on Wednesday he did not believe the US economy will fall into recession either this year or next year, his most confident prediction on the fate of an economy that is still rattled by fears of a downturn.
Asked in an interview whether he thought there would be a recession this year, Biden responded: "No, or next year. From the moment I got elected, how many of the experts are saying within the next six months there's gonna be recession?"
Economists for months have been warning of a possible recession as the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates in order to tame decades-high inflation.
Biden himself has said a recession was possible, and earlier this week he told reporters that the risk was very low.
On the whole, economic data in recent months has moved in the president's favor, particularly after inflation spiked to a 40-year high last summer and government reports showed the US economy could be heading into a recession.
Strong job numbers last week, which occurred despite layoffs in the technology sector as well as in interest-rate-sensitive sectors like housing and finance, poured cold water on market expectations that the US central bank was close to pausing its monetary policy tightening cycle.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday he had cancelled a previously expected second wave of attacks on Venezuela following cooperation from the South American nation.
Storm Goretti battered northern Europe on Friday, knocking out power to thousands of homes, shutting schools and suspending rail services in France, Britain and Germany as heavy snow and gale-force winds compounded a week of freezing weather.
At least one person was killed and 34 others were missing after a landfill collapsed in the city of Cebu in the central Philippines late on Thursday afternoon, officials said.
Russian drones attacked targets in Kyiv early on Friday, killing four people, injuring at least 19 and inflicting considerable damage on dwellings and infrastructure, Ukrainian officials said.