White House (WH) Economist Heather Boushey said at a Washington Post (WaPo) event late Tuesday, she remains optimistic right now that the US can avoid recession.

Key quotes

"It's part of the job description to worry about when the next recession will happen.”

"But ... right now we remain optimistic that we will not have to see something that will lead to the kinds of scarring of American families that we really don't want to see."

“President Joe Biden's policies had helped fuel strong job creation and quicker-than-expected drops in unemployment, which were good indicators of the strength of the US economy.”

Asked about Biden's recent comment that a recession was not inevitable, Boushey said she agreed, adding strong family balance sheets, the low unemployment rate and the economy's ability to weather the COVID-19 pandemic and other "storms," without elaborating on specific data.

"That gives us some confidence that should oil prices continue to be high or maybe go up, which would be horrible, ... there's enough of wiggle room that businesses and families will be able to make it through because they have resources to fall back on." 

Market reaction

The US dollar index was trading around 104.50 on the above comments.