Fed's Kashkari nervous that trade policy uncertainty will lead to layoffs

(Reuters) -Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari on Thursday said the extreme uncertainty over U.S. trade policy has him “nervous” about big layoffs, though so far he has only heard about businesses starting to plan for the possibility if the uncertainty lasts.

The most optimistic thing that could happen this year for the U.S. economy would be “a resolution of trade disputes with our major trading partners, that would relieve extraordinary uncertainty that … businesses large and small and people across the country are experiencing right now,” Kashkari said at the University of Minnesota. “And the thing about confidence is if we all get nervous at the same time … it can really bring down the economy, really slow it down.”