Yellen Says U.S. Economy on Path to Soft Landing

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the U.S. economy is on the path toward taming inflation without a deep economic slowdown, achieving a so-called soft landing. 

“To me a soft landing is the economy continues to grow, the labor market remains strong and inflation comes down. And I believe that’s the path we’re on,” Yellen said Tuesday at The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit. 

Yellen spoke soon after monthly Labor Department data showed inflation holding nearly steady, with the consumer-price index rising 3.1% in November from a year earlier. That is a slight slowdown from the 3.2% reading in October. 

Economists for months have debated whether a soft landing for the U.S. economy was possible. Earlier in the year, the consensus among economists surveyed by the Journal was that the economy would enter a recession, though those expectations faded over time.