Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent assured he is “very, very optimistic” about the economic outlook of 2026 and dismissed concerns of an impending recession.

Bessent appeared on NBC News’s Meet the Press on Sunday since the September jobs report was released late due to the government shutdown. While recessions entail a rising unemployment rate, the unemployment rate rose a tenth of a percentage point to 4.4% in September, which is a historically low number. Still, host Kristen Welker asked Bessent if parts of the economy have “dipped into a recession.”