JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon Says Economy Is ‘Weakening’ as Execs Sound Off Ahead Fed Meeting

Those who track economic data like sports box scores got a doubleheader this week. Inflation rose to its highest level since January, and the U.S. economy added almost 1 million fewer jobs than previously thought, according to a pair of Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.

Meanwhile, the market is bracing for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates for the first time since January when it meets next week. It’s been a busy week, and the CEOs of the Big Banks had a lot to say about it.

‘The Economy Is Weakening’

That’s what Dimon said this week after the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated the U.S. economy added 911,000 fewer jobs in the 12 months through March 2025 than previously reported. The revision, while normal for the bureau as it gathers more information over time, was the largest preliminary adjustment on record, going back to 2000. 

“I think the economy is weakening,” Dimon said in an appearance on CNBC. “Whether it’s on the way to recession or just weakening, I don’t know.”

Dimon said the Fed will “probably” lower interest rates when it meets Tuesday and Wednesday next week, but he noted that the widely expected adjustment may “not be consequential to the economy.”

Consumers Haven’t Stopped Spending

When asked about Dimon’s comments, Wells Fargo’s Scharf said, “It’s complicated.”

Consumer spending is consistent among all income levels, Scharf said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” but lower-income consumers are “spending the money that they have, so their balances are below where they were pre-pandemic levels.”

“There is this big dichotomy between higher-income and lower-income consumers, which continues and is a real issue,”

That’s due in part to grocery prices, which rose 0.6% between July and August, the biggest monthly increase since August 2022. Broadly, the Consumer Price Index rose 2.9% over the 12 months ending in August, the biggest jump since January. 

Still, Wells Fargo has seen credit delinquencies fall despite spending rising year-over-year, CFO Mike Santomassimo said at the Barclays Global Financial Services Conference on Tuesday.

“Despite what you may read in terms of softening, we’re seeing activity levels still be quite strong and credit performance still be quite good,” Santomassimo said.

Bank of America (BAC) CFO Alastair Borthwick, meanwhile, told Barclays attendees that consumer spending on the bank’s cards was up close to 4.5% this year, a faster rate of growth than BofA saw in 2024. 

Or, as Synchrony Financial (SYF) CFO Brian Wenzel put it, “The consumer is hanging in there.”

The Bottom Line

A significant downward jobs revision and a hotter-than-expected inflation report dropped this week, ahead of the Federal Reserve’s September meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday. Weighing in ahead of the expected rate cut, Jamie Dimon said the economy is “weakening” but stopped short of predicting a recession. Consumer spending has remained strong, but lower-income Americans are spending more of what they have than their wealthier counterparts, according to the CEO of Wells Fargo.