Yellen says US ‘soft landing’ underway, low inflation, wage growth to spur confidence

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Friday that a “soft landing” in the U.S. economy was now underway and a sustained period of low inflation and rising wages was needed for Americans “to feel good about their future prospects.”

Yellen told CNN in an interview after solid December job growth data that consumer spending patterns suggest confidence in the economy.

“What we’re seeing now I think we can describe as a soft landing and my hope is that it will continue,” Yellen said.

(Reporting by David Lawder and Rami Ayyub)