White House pushes back against recession talk as household worries grow [Video]

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A key economic adviser to President Donald Trump pushed back on talk of recession stemming from uncertainty around his administration’s tariff policies, even as a survey of American households showed consumers growing more pessimistic about their prospects, and U.S. stocks extended their slide.

In an interview with CNBC, Kevin Hassett, who heads the National Economic Council, said there were many reasons to be bullish about the U.S. economy, despite some predictions of a contraction in gross domestic product in the first quarter and concerns about inflation.

Trump’s tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico were already having the intended effect of bringing manufacturing and jobs back to the United States, he said.

“There are a lot of reasons to be extremely bullish about the economy going forward. But for sure, this quarter, there are some blips in the data,” Hassett said, saying those stemmed from both timing effects of Trump’s rapid-fire …