JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon warns U.S. headed for recession next year

Oct. 10 (UPI) -- JPMorgan Chase chief executive officer Jamie Dimon warned Monday a "serious mix of headwinds" will likely send the United States into a recession in the next six to nine months.

Dimon said soaring inflation, ongoing interest rate hikes and Russia's war in Ukraine will eventually take a toll on the U.S. economy causing stocks to tumble another 20% next year, he told CNBC at the JPM Techstars Conference in London.

"The next 20% would be much more painful than the first," Dimon warned. "You can't talk about the economy without talking about stuff in the future -- and this is serious stuff."

In June, Dimon called the Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes and Russia's war in Ukraine enough to cause an economic "hurricane."

"These are very, very serious things, which I think are likely to push the U.S. and the world -- I mean, Europe is already in recession -- and they're likely to put the United States in some kind of recession six to nine months from now," Dimon warned Monday.

Last month, the Federal Reserve raised the benchmark interest rate by another 0.75 percentage points to slow the highest inflation in 40 years. The latest increase boosted the federal funds rate to between 3% and 3.25% after it remained near zero as recently as March.

"Let's wish him [Fed chair Jerome Powell] success and keep our fingers crossed that they managed to slow down the economy enough so that whatever it is, is mild -- and it is possible," Dimon added while blaming the Fed for playing "catch up" after it "waited too long and did too little" to rein in inflation.

Dimon said the economy is "actually still doing well" currently. He argued consumers may be better prepared to weather a financial crisis next year compared to the recession of 2008.

While urging investors to be very conservative moving forward, Dimon could not predict how long a recession might last.

"It can go from very mild to quite hard and a lot will be reliant on what happens with this war. So, I think to guess is hard," Dimon warned. "Be prepared."