(Bloomberg) -- The US economic outlook still appears grim with a recession still likely to occur in 2024 along with a higher unemployment rate, DoubleLine Capital’s Jeffrey Gundlach told CNBC following the Federal Reserve’s decision to hold its target range for its benchmark rate unchanged for the fourth straight meeting.

“We know that inflation was going to come down,” Gundlach said. “For now, we think there will be a stall in the inflation rate coming down. This means the market is not going to get the Goldilocks picture that it was euphoric about a couple of weeks ago.”

Gundlach also chided the Fed’s ‘higher-for-longer’ strategy, saying it posed a negative risk to future growth.

“The longer the Fed stays at what is going to be about a 200 or 300 basis points real interest rate on Fed funds, there is risk to economic growth as we move into this year,” he said. 

Gundlach said higher rates continue to pose a major threat to the banking system but saw Wednesday jitters over New York Community Bancorp, as an isolated case. Nonetheless, there is still plenty of anecdotal evidence to give credence to the belief the urban and commercial real estate market is in a “debacle,” he added.

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.