Here's what America's top CEOs are saying about a possible recession in 2023

As 2023 approaches and the imaginable of a recession looms, firm America is preparing for a slowdown successful user spending.

CEOs of large companies including Walmart and General Motors joined CNBC's "Squawk Box" connected Tuesday greeting to speech inflation, involvement rates, geopolitics and what it each means for their outlooks successful the caller year.

Here's what they said:

Rising involvement rates, grounds inflation, geopolitical unit and different factors could coalesce into a recession, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon told CNBC.

Savings and authorities assistance during the pandemic are helping support user wallets stable, but ostentation and complaint hikes are "eroding everything," helium said.

The CEO projected that the elevated user spending of 2022 volition not past overmuch longer, and underscored the hazard posed by rising involvement rates arsenic the Fed works to curb inflation.

This year's geopolitical upheaval, including the warfare successful Ukraine and strained commercialized with China, are besides among the "storm clouds" Dimon is watching. As the dollar strengthens, helium noted that planetary commercialized for thing similar lipid volition proceed to get much costly since weaker currencies are forced to lucifer the difference.  

"When you look retired forward, those things whitethorn good derail the system and origin this mild to hard recession that radical are disquieted about," Dimon said. "It could beryllium a hurricane. We simply don't know."

General Motors CEO Mary Barra anticipates economical headwinds adjacent twelvemonth but is not sounding the alarms for a recession conscionable yet.

"I'm not going to telephone a recession, that's for economists to do," Barra told CNBC. "But close now, we're inactive seeing a beauteous beardown consumer."

Even so, the car shaper is proceeding with caution to beryllium prepared for a imaginable illness successful demand, akin to what other industries person seen. During the pandemic, erstwhile consumers were spending little connected question and services, immoderate industries saw elevated request and were caught disconnected defender erstwhile that request aboriginal disappeared.

Barra said GM is preparing "a reasonably blimpish 2023" cost-wise to debar being blindsided, but that she is inactive seeing "pent-up demand" lingering from the pandemic.

Barra besides expects issues problems from the pandemic, specified arsenic semiconductor shortages and strained proviso chains, to persist into 2023 contempt improvements each quarter.

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon doesn't privation a recession, but helium thinks it mightiness beryllium a indispensable evil to easiness ostentation for his customers.

"We've got immoderate customers who are much fund conscious that person been nether ostentation unit present for months," McMillon said. "Should the Fed bash what it needs to do, adjacent if it is simply a overmuch harder landing than we'd like? I deliberation ostentation needs to beryllium dealt with."

Though Walmart is inactive seeing beardown spending, McMillon has spotted more blimpish spending successful definite categories similar electronics and toys.

Walmart has seen its pandemic-era staffing issues statesman to subside arsenic it has raised wages, but McMillon noted there's inactive hiring unit astatine the cashier level. If a hard recession hits, McMillon ensured that Walmart would not crook to staffing cuts.

"Customers and members request to beryllium served truthful that'll thrust our headcount. Growth volition astir apt proceed to spell up," said McMillon.

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby told CNBC that his institution is entering the twelvemonth with optimism but that 2023 mightiness spot a "mild recession induced by the Fed."

Business question is enjoying a steady rebound from its pandemic-era collapse, but Kirby said that traveler request is plateauing, which mightiness bespeak "pre-recessionary behavior."

And adjacent though the manufacture is successful the "eighth inning" of Covid recovery, Kirby said it is inactive battling problems near implicit from the pandemic, specified arsenic a aviator shortage and costly fuel.

For now, Airlines person reaped the benefits of hybrid work, with the summation successful distant enactment giving radical much flexibility to travel, said Kirby.

United inactive maintains a affirmative outlook arsenic its gross numbers proceed to rise. Kirby said the institution is "coming backmost to adjacent all-time nett margins."

"If I didn't ticker CNBC successful the greeting – which I bash – the connection recession wouldn't beryllium successful my vocabulary," Kirby said. "You conscionable can't spot it successful our data."

Shipping is slowing down, Union Pacific Railroads CEO Lance Fritz told CNBC, a motion that user spending is tapering disconnected and the system is tightening.

"The lodging marketplace has intelligibly slowed and parcel packaging has intelligibly slowed and we are seeing that successful insubstantial and parcel shipments," helium said.

Fritz near it up to the Fed to determine whether putting unit connected the consumer's wallet – and perchance triggering a 2023 recession – is worthy slowing down inflation. As rates proceed rise, helium said spending and request volition surely travel down.

"The Fed is trying to deed each of america successful the enactment of occurrence with a slower system and hurting demand. It's not good," said Fritz.