Submitted photoAnthony Chan, chief economist for JPMorgan Chase & Co.

The chief economist for the nation’s biggest bank expressed optimism Tuesday about the nation’s continuing recovery from the Great Recession, and about Oregon’s recovery, as well.

Anthony Chan, of JPMorgan Chase & Co., provides research and analysis for the company’s private clients and JPMorgan’s Global Investment Committee. Chan, of New York, arrives in Bend today to meet with Chase clients, “high net-worth individuals” whose wealth Chase helps manage. He plans to speak privately at the Broken Top Club.

“I think the message is that the U.S. economy, after the deep freeze in the first quarter, is definitely recovering,” Chan said by phone Tuesday.

He anticipates 3 percent growth in gross domestic product in the remainder of 2014, the same forecast made by the Congressional Budget Office in February. The recovery will continue slowly but steadily, and that’s a good thing, he said.

“We’re recovering, but is it a rapid recovery? Of course not. Weak recoveries tend to last longer than recoveries that are strong right out of the box,” Chan said.

Based on total assets, JPMorgan Chase & Co. is the country’s largest bank holding company, according to the Federal Reserve.

Job creation in Oregon is one reason for confidence, he said. Even though more firms are hiring, the state unemployment rate remains above 7 percent, due in part to more people looking for work than a year ago, according to the Oregon Employment Department. The seasonally adjusted labor force in Oregon grew by 8,350 people in August, according to the department’s monthly report, released Monday.

“You are creating jobs,” Chan said. “So, I was impressed with the fact that the labor force picked up, even though the unemployment rate picked up. The fact that you see that labor force pick up is good news.”

By another measure, the Oregon economy is expected to expand by as much as 1.5 percent over the next six months, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. The bank’s latest survey of four economic indicators in all 50 states came out in August.

“One of the things I like to look at is the Philadelphia Fed’s index for every state’s potential to grow,” Chan said. Even if the reserve bank’s estimate of Oregon’s potential is high, it’s still a good bet, he said. For one, job growth is strong in high tech, education and health care, he said. All are important sectors in Central Oregon.

Educational and health care services in Deschutes County, for example, added 710 jobs between August and the same month in 2013, according to the Employment Department.

In housing, Chan acknowledged the escalation in median home prices in Bend, but he said he’s not concerned that housing markets overall are overheated. The median price of a single-family home in Bend climbed from $250,000 in August 2013 to $325,000 a year later.

“Home prices, I think, they’re catching up,” Chan said. “Nationally, we’re still not looking at prices that were higher before they were in the crisis.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7815,

jditzler@bendbulletin.com