JPMorgan CEO Dimon sums up U.S. economy in one paragraph — and it sounds bad

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JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on Thursday summarized the state of the U.S. economy in one paragraph, and it's not all good.

On the one hand, Dimon said the U.S. «economy continues to grow and both the job market and consumer spending, and their ability to spend, remain healthy.»

He then rattled off a number of warning signs, saying: «But geopolitical tension, high inflation, waning consumer confidence, the uncertainty about how high rates have to go and the never-before-seen quantitative tightening and their effects on global liquidity, combined with the war in Ukraine and its harmful effect on global energy and food prices are very likely to have negative consequences on the global economy sometime down the road.»

Dimon's comments, which were made in JPMorgan Chase's latest quarterly release, come as investors and economists try to make out whether the economy is headed for a recession — and the recent spate of economic data isn't providing much clarity.

For the moment, there aren't any signs the U.S. economy is entering a recession, according to comments JPMorgan executives made on their earnings call.

As Dimon said, the labor market seems to be in solid footing. Last month, the U.S. economy added 372,000 jobs, topping a Dow Jones estimate of 250,000. Meanwhile, average hourly wages grew last month at 5.1% year-over-year pace.

Consumer spending also seems to be chugging along, albeit at a subdued pace. Spending in May rose 0.2%, below a Reuters estimate for a 0.4% gain.

Even within JPMorgan's own business there were signs of consumer strength. Consumers are still spending on discretionary areas like travel and dining. At its consumer and community banking division, combined debit and credit card