It seems to be that the economy is not barreling towards the recession that we expected would

come for much of last year, and frankly that you would expect to come when interest rates

are very high, when inflation has to get under control.

Economists and politicians have been warning about the possibility of a looming recession

for months, but that hasn't happened yet.

You have a very strong labor market, a very low unemployment rate, and a labor market

that is still growing, that is still just churning month after month after month.

Rachel Siegel is an economics reporter at the post.

These are all real clear engines of the economy that have to shut off, and we're not seeing

anything like that right now.

So does that mean we've actually avoided a recession?

From the newsroom of the Washington Post, this is Post Reports.

I'm Kim Bellware.

It's Wednesday, February 22nd.

Today, I talk with Rachel about why this economy is baffling economists, how the government's

efforts to fight inflation have been going, and yes, whether or not a recession may still

come our way.

One pack a little bit of what has happened up until now.

I remember last summer, inflation was really high, and then the Federal Reserve tried to

slow inflation by raising the cost of borrowing money, right?

That's exactly right.

The Federal Reserve was on a really aggressive tear for almost all of last year to catch

...