Stephen Schwarzman explains why recession fears are so high
Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman spoke exclusively with FOX Business' Maria Bartiromo on "Wall Street Week" in regards to the recent ongoing recession fears.
He doesn't think a recession is on the horizon.
"The U.S. has roughly 70 percent, maybe 72 percent in a consumer economy," Schwarzman told Bartiromo."But the consumer has the advantage of full employment the way we measure it, and so now we're getting compensation for workers that are going up faster than inflation, and that's a good thing for workers."
Tune in to FOX Business' "Wall Street Week" starting at 9 p.m. ET on Friday to catch the entire interview with Schwarzman.
However, there are various concerning economic indicators to say a recession may be possible.
Traders at the New York Stock Exchange follow stock prices just before the Federal Reserve made its interest rate announcement. Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
For example, the Federal Reserve did back-to-back rate cuts, something that typically happens either in anticipation of a recession or during a downturn.
Earlier this month, the Institute for Supply Management reported manufacturing had significantly slowed. Schwarzman noted that trend as well.
"We've got roughly around 11 percent in manufacturing," Schwarzman said.
"Manufacturing is going down. There's no doubt about that. It's quite soft."
In August, the manufacturing sector contracted for the first time in three years, and job growth is slowing, possibly as a result of the ongoing global trade uncertainty.
Germany is teetering on the brink of a recession itself, and China's economic growth has slowed to its lowest rate in 27 years, according to the Associated Press. If both those major consumer economies dip into a recession, that could mean fewer purchases of American products, which is coincidentally worsened when the American dollar is strong.
From left to right, German Finance Olaf Scholz, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier, German Federal Bank Vice President Claudia Buch and Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau attend a media con
Then there's the inverted yield curve, which often shows bond investor uncertainty that a recession is coming.
Coupled with the oil production field attack in Saudi Arabia, which sent shockwaves through the global oil markets, and the seemingly never-ending battle over Brexit, recession fears remain high.
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Despite that troubling data, unemployment remains at historic lows.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.