Alarm bells on the health of the U.S. economy are ringing an unexpectedly dismal jobs report,

growing unemployment, and the ensuing uncertainty over trade policy piled on top of surging oil prices,

make the financial outlook particularly bleak this month.

Could a recession be next?

Hello and welcome to USA Today's The Excerpt.

I'm Dana Taylor.

Today is Wednesday, March 11, 26.

Joining me to discuss recent economic indicators and what might lie ahead is USA Today, Money

Reporter Andrea Ricciay.

Andrea, thank you so much for joining me.

Hey, Dana.

Thanks for having me.

Andrea, you wrote that economists, analysts, and investors are concerned right now about

the possibility of stagflation.

What is stackflation? And is this something we should be concerned about?

So stagflation refers to a really uncomfortable moment in the economy where economic growth is stagnant.

It's not growing or even receding, and yet inflation is high.

Typically, you see inflation higher when growth is strong.

But this is uncomfortable because the policy responses are opposite for each one.

When you have high inflation, you might want to raise interest

rates to keep demand lower. And when you have slow growth, you might want to drop them in order

to stimulate demand. So stagflation is a really difficult place for the economy and for the

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