SACO, Maine — Met with cheers from dozens of employees, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said he looks forward to his company expanding into Maine despite economic uncertainty.
Dimon, one of the most influential financial executives in the country, was on a tour across New England to meet with employees and talk about future plans.
"We're opening new markets," he said. "We're opening new branches. We're retailing in these states for the first time."
That expansion includes New York, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Maine.
Maine alone will soon have a total of six Chase bank locations, Dimon said, including the new office in Saco that opened in February.
"We're not gonna change our expansion plans because of a recession, or not a recession," Dimon told NEWS CENTER Maine.
When asked if he believes the U.S. is headed for a recession, Dimon
"Right now the American economy is kind of strong you know," he said. "Recession, the technical terms of recession, shrinking GDP—I'm not sure I even believe those numbers by the way because they are so distorted coming out of Covid, supply chains, unemployment."
Dimon pointed to promising unemployment numbers nationwide and an increase in spending since before the pandemic as signs of strength in the U.S. economy.
"That doesn't sound like a recession to me currently," he said. "But there are a lot of things on the horizon that people should be legitimately worried about."
Among those things, according to Dimon, are rapidly rising interest rates, quantitative tightening, the war in Ukraine and increasing food and gas prices.
While the county is experiencing many of those things, Dimon said the exact outcome is still unknown.
"Those are legitimate issues that very well may derail the economy," he said. "We simply don't know. You can spend a lot of time guessing about things like that. We don't know."
The U.S. Senate is poised to take up the Inflation Reduction Act this week. Senate Democrats are hoping to pass the massive spending bill that includes funding for climate change, health care and tax increases for corporations.
Dimon said he does not have a firm opinion on the legislation yet, but is opposed to
"There are some silly things in there. There are some good things in there. I think providing for energy security in America is very important," Dimond said. "There are parts I like and parts I don't."
One major part he disagrees with is what he called a "new tax system." When pressed on if his opposition stems from fear of greater taxes on JPMorgan, Dimon would not clarify.
"I'm not against taxes. I think they're legitimate. If you're talking about a tax system, you have to look at is it good? Is it fair?" Dimon said.
JPMorgan stocks have taken a hit dropping as much as five percent in recent weeks after halting buybacks.
In June, Dimon made headlines after telling investors at a financial conference in New York he was bracing the company for an oncoming economic "hurricane."
He clarified those remarks Thursday claiming he has been "misquoted."
"I was talking about storms clouds that could be a hurricane or mitigate. So as a business person, I think people should be prepared for kind of unexpected events." Dimon told NEWS CENTER Maine. "I don't think they should be scared, but I think people should save money be ready for a rainy day and not always be surprised when that happens."
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