JPMorgan CEO: 2022 Economy to See ‘Best Growth’ in Decades

J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon said the U.S. would have the “best growth” in decades in 2022, CNBC reported Monday (Jan. 10).

He said it would surpass any time “since maybe sometime after the Great Depression,” adding that next year would also be good. Dimon said his opinions come from the strong balance sheet of the American consumer, whom he said was “spending 25% more today than pre-COVID.”

“Their debt-service ratio is better than it’s been since we’ve been keeping records for 50 years,” he said, per CNBC.

While Dimon has expressed expectations for higher rates in the past, he’s made note that while the economy looks strong now, investors might have a tough year ahead.

“The market is different,” Dimon said. “We’re kind of expecting that the market will have a lot of volatility this year as rates go up and people kind of redo projections. If we’re lucky, the Fed can slow things down and we’ll have what they call a ‘soft landing.’”

Bank stocks have been surging this year thus far — the KBW Bank Index was up 10% last week, which came out to the best result on record. The CNBC report notes that banks often do better in rising-rate environments, with lending margins expanding as rates climb.

J.P. Morgan posted recent third-quarter results which were better than expected from Wall Street, but there was an underpinning of growth in credit and debit card spending.

See also: JPMorgan Earnings Show Debit and Credit Card Sales Volume Up 26%

Management noted that the results had been bolstered by the economy’s recovery and consumer confidence. Dimon said the consumer was “in great shape” and that “capitalism works.”

The company released $2.1 billion in loan reserves then, which had the effect of positively affecting net income.

The company said revenue was sitting at $30.5 billion — an improvement over what Wall Street expected. Supplemental materials said credit and debit card volume was up 26% year over year, hitting just under $350 billion.