Jamie Dimon is one of the most respected voices on Wall Street. He navigated JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) through the financial crisis without a government bailout, and he has maintained its leadership in the banking industry. And, as chief executive of the largest U.S. bank by assets, he has unique insight into the state of the economy.

So it was telling when Dimon said on JPMorgan's latest earnings call that his bank is expecting only a mild recession. In its earnings release, the bank said it was taking a provisional charge of $2.3 billion for credit losses, including a $1.4 billion build on reserves for future losses. CFO Jeremy Barnum elaborated that the bank's outlook included the unemployment rate peaking at 4.9%.

Dimon's comments are a notable contrast from what he said earlier about the economy. Back in October, Dimon had said there are "very, very serious things" that were likely to push the world into a recession in the next six or nine months, and last May, he referred to a potential economic crash as a "hurricane" coming toward us.

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Source Fool.com