Warren Buffet confident American will not face second recession

Billionaire Warren Buffett is optimistic, and said he is wagering on continued economic expansion. He wants to assure the public that he doesn't expect a second recession.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - "I would bet very heavily against that," Buffett told Betty Liu on the "In the Loop" program. While the most recent data shows slowing U.S. job growth, Buffet says that "How fast the recovery will come, I don't know. I see nothing that indicates any kind of a double dip."

The unemployment rate unexpectedly climbed to 9.2 percent in June, the highest level this year. Hiring by companies was the weakest since May 2010. U.S. employers added only 18,000 jobs last month, less than the 105,000 median estimated in a Bloomberg News survey.

"It means that we're still a ways off from getting to where we should be," Buffett said. "We're seeing growth around the world, but it's not mushrooming."

Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. added about 3,000 jobs last year after cutting more than 20,000 positions in 2009. The Omaha, Nebraska-based company employed about 260,000 people at units from insurance and shipping to consumer goods and energy, Berkshire said in February.

Employment gained last year at Berkshire units including car insurer Geico and railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe. Staffing fell at carpet-maker Shaw Industries.

"Jobs come with demand," the 80-year-old Buffet said. "We're seeing demand a lot of places but we're not seeing it in the construction field."

Berkshire owns a real estate brokerage, a maker of manufactured homes and units that construct roofs and sell bricks and carpet. Buffett said in February that a housing recovery would begin "within a year or so" and that he's preparing the company's businesses for growth. Buffett is chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire.

"We will come back big time on employment when residential construction comes back," Buffett said. The unemployment rate will drop to 6 percent "within a few years," he said.
Source: http://www.catholic.org