Blackstone president and COO Jonathan Gray believes that America’s economic backdrop is looking sturdier than the headlines suggest, as the US heads into 2026 continuing to flash resilience.
In a new CNBC interview, Gray points to revenue growth across Blackstone’s portfolio of companies, while highlighting that the AI CapEx boom is a major driver of US economic activity.
“Our companies in the third quarter [saw] their revenue growth in private equity was up 9%. This AI CapEx boom has really fueled a lot of business activity, particularly in the United States.”
According to Gray, signs of easing inflation plus a weak job market will open the door for the Fed to cut more.
“The labor market has softened a bit. So when we talk to our CEOs, they say it’s much easier to hire today than it was three years ago. And wage rates have gone from sort of the low fours to call it 3% on an hourly basis in the US. And I think that softening of the labor market, given the Fed’s dual mandate, will help them cut rates. I’d also say on the rental housing front, which is a big component of CPI, the data lags. And what we see in our portfolio is much lower inflation there as well. So I think the overall picture is pretty good resilience, some softening on the consumer side, a bit of weakness on the labor side, and some slower inflation numbers. That should allow the Fed to cut rates. That’s good for the economy.”
Yesterday, the Fed cut rates by 25 basis points, trimming its benchmark interest rate to 3.5%-3.75%.
Gray adds that the combination of an increasingly supportive policy backdrop and the potential for productivity gains coming from AI adoption creates unusually strong conditions for investors.
“As investors in an environment with a pretty resilient economy, a lowering cost of capital and then this big potential productivity boom coming from AI, that’s not a bad combination. And that’s why you see us investing so much capital.”
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