Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi says 22 U.S. states are already in recession, despite that national figures show the overall economy growing at a 3.8 percent pace and unemployment holding at 4.3 percent.
In a new interview with Fortune that builds on his late August analysis, Zandi said that much of the country’s economy is contracting beneath the surface, with many lower- and middle-income Americans on the cusp of financial distress, weighed down by debt and slowing wage growth despite steady employment levels.
“They’ve got a job, so that’s why they’re still able to spend and remain engaged in the economy,” Zandi said. “But increasingly … the grip feels more tenuous because no one’s getting hired. You can sustain that for a while, but you can’t sustain that forever.”…