Jamie Dimon says ‘the worst outcome is stagflation,’ a scenario he’s not taking off the table

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said Tuesday he wouldn’t rule out stagflation, even with greater confidence recently that inflation is coming off its highs.

“I would say the worst outcome is stagflation — recession, higher inflation,” Dimon said at a fall conference from the Council of Institutional Investors in Brooklyn, New York. “And by the way, I wouldn’t take it off the table.”

The chief executive of the largest U.S. bank makes his comments at a time when investors are turning their attention to signs of slowing growth. Recent readings showed pricing pressures increasingly on their way to the Federal Reserve’s 2% inflation target, but reports on employment and manufacturing have revealed some signs of softening.

Investors will get some additional key data this week, with the consumer price index and producer price index coming Wednesday and Thursday.

But Dimon worries that a raft of inflationary forces on the horizon, such as higher deficits and increased infrastructure spending, will continue to add pressure to an economy still reeling from the impact of higher interest rates.

“They’re all inflationary, basically in the short run, the next couple of years,” Dimon said. “So, it’s hard to look at [it] and say, ‘Well, no, we’re out of the woods.’ I don’t think so.”

The bank leader has previously warned of an economic slowdown. In August, he said the odds of a “soft landing” were around 35% to 40%, implying a recession is the more likely outcome.