W.H. on China: ‘The Global Economy Is More Interconnected than It’s Ever Been’

PACE: “What would you say to Americans who are watching this volatility, the markets is going up and down, about how what’s happening in China could affect the U.S. economy?”
EARNEST: “There’s no doubt that the global economy is more interconnected than it’s ever been. There are a variety of reasons for that, technology is not the least of them. But what I would encourage people to evaluate is the ongoing strength and resilience of the U.S. economy. U.S. businesses over last 65 consecutive months have added 13 million jobs. That’s the longest sustained private sector job growth streak in American history. The unemployment rate here in the United States is at 5.3 percent which is the lowest level in seven years. Looking at economic growth more broadly, if you took – take a look at the most stable components of growth, a combination of personal consumption and fixed investment, we’ve actually seen that growth rate — we’ve seen that those two measures of economic growth have increased 3.2 percent over the last year. And that’s actually faster than the growth of the overall economy, which is an indication of how durable the U.S. economy continues to be, even as we see some increased volatility overseas.” which is an indication of how durable the U.S. economy continues to be even as we see some increased volatility overseas.”