PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Financial experts say a recession is the lesser of two evils when it comes to the ongoing battle against rising inflation.
"It's the lesser of two evils," Noah Rubin, managing director of investments at Wells Fargo Advisors in Boca Raton, said.
Rubin is talking about a recession versus rising inflation.
"You've been doing stories about school supplies, about housing, everything is becoming more and more expensive," Rubin said. "Historically, if inflation continues to run the way it is, it becomes crippling."
With inflation at a 40-year high, Rubin told WPTV it's no secret something has to change. In his opinion, a recession could be a big help.
"Having a recession slows the economy down. Slowing the economy down is all about spending less, purchasing less, and that is one of the main ways to stop prices from rising," Rubin said. "Technically we are in a recession. There's a calculation that's done where you have six straight months of negative growth, two-quarters of negative GDP. What that means is if we have six straight months of negative growth, we're in a recession."
However, Rubin said we're not quite feeling the benefits of it yet, so to speak.
"Airlines are still overbooked. People are still vacationing," Rubin said. "The federal reserve has effectively come out and said inflation is so bad we are willing to push the economy into a recession."
Another sign the country isn't in a recession yet is job growth. The hot labor marketadded 528,000 jobs last month. However, those jobs aren’t paying the bills for some Americans.
"It's sad to say goodbye," Delray Beach resident Katie Rister said.
Contact 5 introduced you to Katie Rister last week.
She'll be moving out of her Delray Beach home on Thursday due to eviction because she couldn't afford the rent.
She has two jobs, works around 90 hours each week, and still can't find an affordable place to live.
"The price of a hotel per week is just as much as our rent payment, so my only option is to probably sleep in my car for a month or two until I can save up some money," Rister said.
Rubin thinks while it may take some time, we're in for some positive change that would hopefully help people like Rister get back on their feet.
"We're in a short-term crisis right now. A lot of people are feeling it. I would say longer term," Rubin said. "Let's remember how strong and committed we as Americans are," Rubin said. "We will come through this. I have total belief."
