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The United States Secretary of the United States, Scott Besent, attends an Economic Club of New York event in New York City, USA, March 6, 2025.
Jeenah Moon | Reuters
The secretary of the Treasury, Scott Besent, recognized on Friday some signs of weakness in the economy of the United States.
“Could we be seeing that this economy we inherit began to roll a little? Of course. And look, there will be a natural adjustment as we move away from public spending to private spending,” Besent said in CNBC. “Box“
“The market and the economy have hooked. We have become addicted to this government expenditure, and there will be a period of detoxification,” he added.
Describing the economy as inherited is a reference to the administration under then President Joe Biden. The current President Donald Trump assumed the position on January 20.
Under Biden, the United States saw generally strong economic growth. However, there were signs of a deceleration at the end of 2024, and inflation remained above the 2% target of the Federal Reserve.
In its first months, the Trump administration has taken measures to remodel global commercial policies and reduce federal workforce. There have been no very difficult economic data that reflect the Trump term, although consumer surveys have demonstrated a Decline trust.
The February job report was published after Besent’s comments and was shown unemployment marking to 4.1% of 4.0%. The economy added 151,000 jobs during the month, below the 170,000 projected by economists, according to Dow Jones.
An area where Trump’s policies can feel quickly are rates. The president has arrived in Canada, Mexico and China with tariffs in his first two months in office, although the efforts of Canada and Mexico now have a Longy List of exemptions. The administration plans to implement broader rates in April.
“Tariffs are a unique price adjustment,” said Besent, who supports the idea that tariffs would boost continuous inflation.
Besent also said that the administration “was not receiving a lot of credit” for the areas where costs have fallen since Trump’s inauguration, such as oil prices and mortgage rates.