Yellen sees U.S. economy as very strong despite inflation - senior official

TOKYO, July 12 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will emphasize the strength of the U.S. economy despite high inflation and a 1.6% annualized drop in first quarter gross domestic product when she meets with Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki on Tuesday, a senior Treasury official told reporters.

Yellen will describe steps Washington is taking to address inflation, while sharing her view that the U.S. economy remains very strong, given the robustness of the U.S. labor force and close-to-record unemployment rates, the official said.

She will note the challenges facing the global economy, with the fallout of Russia’s war in Ukraine and its impact on global commodity prices expected to hit some developing countries and emerging markets as well as Europe’s economy, especially hard, the official added.