The US housing market is in recession – and the pandemic has created a unique economic headache, elite strategist Liz Ann Sonders says

Source: Insider —

Experts are struggling to explain the US economy’s stubbornly high inflation and resilient job gains during a period of surging interest rates. Liz Ann Sonders may have the answer.

Charles Schwab’s chief investment strategist has suggested the COVID-19 pandemic, and authorities’ response to it, have caused a “rolling recession” where some sectors are booming and others are slowing sharply. They’ve also fueled historic inflation and created a tough backdrop for stocks, she said.

“You’ve got recessions in areas like certain segments of consumer goods, certainly in housing,” Sonders said during a recent episode of “The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway.”

“But we’ve had the more recent offsetting strength in services,” she continued, adding that strong demand for service workers plus wider labor shortages have shored up employment.

Product of the pandemic

The coronavirus snarled global supply chains and spurred governments to impose lockdowns, restrict travel, and temporarily shut down entire industries in 2020.