Bessent says high US interest rates may have caused housing recession [View all]

Source: Reuters

November 2, 2025 4:35 PM EST Updated 11 hours ago


Nov 2 (Reuters) - Parts of the U.S. economy, particularly housing, may already be in recession because of high interest rates, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday, repeating his call for the Federal Reserve to accelerate rate cuts.

"I think that we are in good shape, but I think that there are sectors of the economy that are in recession," Bessent said on CNN's "State of the Union" program. "And the Fed has caused a lot of distributional problems with their policies."

Bessent said that, although the overall U.S. economy remains solid, high mortgage rates still hinder the real estate market. Housing, he said, is effectively in a recession that is hitting low-end consumers the hardest because they have debts, not assets. Pending home sales in the United States were flat in September, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The treasury secretary characterized the overall economic environment as in a transition period. Fed Chair Jerome Powell last week signaled that the central bank may not cut rates further at its December meeting, prompting sharp criticism from Bessent and other Trump administration officials.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/business/bessent-says-high-us-interest-rates-may-have-caused-housing-recession-2025-11-02/