Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, said Wednesday that he does not think the U.S. is currently in a recession. He attributed his view to the fact that "there are just too many areas of the economy that are performing too well," including the labor market and a low unemployment rate.

"2.7 million people hired in the first half of the year — it doesn't make sense that the economy would be in recession with this kind of thing happening," Powell told reporters.

His statement came as the Federal Reserve, the nation's central bank, raised its key benchmark interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point to a range of 2.25% to 2.5% -- it's highest level since 2018-- in an attempt to stop high inflation. An increase interest rates makes it more expensive to borrow money for purchases of large items, like homes or cars. The presumption is that a rise in interest rates slows spending and borrowing, and tames inflation.

A number of economic reports released this week are also due to show whether the U.S. economy is undergoing a recession. Some economists consider a recession to be two straight quarters of economic contraction. On the flip side, the National Bureau of Economic Research — a nonprofit group of economists — defines a recession as “a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and lasts more than a few months.”

This post was produced and edited by Julia Griffin, Dan Cooney and Yasmeen Alamiri.

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