Woman hits a nerve with millions as she reacts with disbelief at JP Morgan CEO’s comments about average American’s quality of life

The CEO of JP Morgan has come under fire for claiming that the average American is “pretty good” financially, despite soaring inflation and stagnant interest rates that are crippling household budgets.

Jamie Dimon was labeled ‘out of touch’ for comments he made during an interview on the channel Wall Street Journal‘s podcast, The Journal.

Dimon, who is estimated to be worth around $2.1 billion according to Forbes, stated that consumers “still have excess cash from COVID.”

“The consumer is in pretty good shape right now,” Dimon told interviewer Emma Tucker.

But his comments were dismissed online, including by an angry TikToker who was left in disbelief, after the head of the US’s largest bank claimed Americans were “still spending” money handed out during the pandemic.

‘My jaw dropped at the nonsense he said. It’s so f***** out of reach that this is the largest bank in America,” one TikToker said in a viral response.

Dimon was quick to talk on the podcast about how America, even four years later, is still feeling the effects of COVID.

“Consumers have, you know, unemployment has been below 4 percent for two years. They still have excess money from COVID,” Dimon told the podcast.

“If you look back at the amount of money spent during COVID, it was $6 trillion. Through different means and different programs, they’re still putting it out.”

He also emphasized that “house prices are up, stock prices are up and there are plenty of jobs.”

Those comments quickly provoked a rebuke online, including from Anna.

‘I’m sorry, what? The stimulus checks that went out in 2020 and 2021, three and four years ago, are we still spending? Who is he talking about, people are not doing well,” responds Anna, who uses the handle @creativechronicles.

“This country is literally unaffordable, childcare, groceries, you’ve got Kellogg’s here telling us we have to eat f****** cereal for dinner. Everything has gone up in price.

When questioned about why consumers are feeling so down about the economy, Dimon claimed it came down to “different consumers.”

“The bottom 20 percent of America hasn’t done particularly well over the past 20 years. Incomes barely rose. For the first time in almost 20 years, they are starting to rise again,” Dimon said.

“Think of suicide, fentanyl, crime, inflation, there are a lot of negative effects. Some people can’t get a mortgage, can’t buy the house, so yes, there is a part of society that is struggling. There is a part of society that is not.’

However, many Americans may find it hard to believe that only the bottom 20 percent of the country are struggling.

Annual inflation rose to 3.5 percent in March, still well above the Fed’s two percent target. That has led the Federal Reserve to raise its base interest rate to levels not seen in years. The hope is that raising interest rates will slow inflation.

So far, that hasn’t happened enough as the Fed started cutting rates.

A study of HelpAdvisor Earlier this year it emerged that American consumers spend an average of $1,080 per month at the supermarket thanks to inflation.

Analysis from the Wall Street Journal shows that the same $100 grocery store cost in 2019 would cost about $136 today due to food price inflation.

Examples of skyrocketing prices include the cost of a dozen eggs, which increased by 70 percent between February 2022 and February 2023.

In a policy statement released today, the organization said interest rates will not be cut until officials have “greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2 percent.”

The decision spells more misery for households already struggling to bear the weight of rising interest rates on credit cards, mortgages and personal loans.

It is also the sixth time in a row that the Fed has chosen to keep interest rates at current levels in its battle to curb inflation.

In theory, higher interest rates should encourage consumers to spend less and slow price increases.

One of the biggest victims of higher interest rates is mortgages. The interest rate offered on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage was 7.17 in the week to April 25.

Dimon warned that the Fed’s rate hike may not be enough to achieve a soft landing, the term used to describe when the Fed is able to raise rates enough to curb inflation without triggering a recession cause.

He suggested that this is because much of the growth he describes is driven by budget expenditures, for example taxes and government spending.

“I’m a little more concerned that inflation might not go away completely as people expect,” Dimon said.

“I’m not just talking about this year, I’m talking about ’25 and ’26. The interest rate may have to rise slightly, I am talking about the ten-year interest rate, the five-year interest rate, and that could have consequences. So we’ll see.’