Billionaire investor Warren Buffett says the overall economy has been slowing down in the last two months as fears about Europe's debt woes mounted, but businesses tied to residential housing are improving a bit.

Buffett, who is chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said during an interview on CNBC on Thursday that he's not sure why the general economy is slowing, but he sees evidence of it at Berkshire's retail, jewelry, carpet and other businesses.

Buffett says the U.S. economy has not turned negative, but business in Europe has dropped off quickly in the past two months.

Buffett says the small improvement in residential home sales, construction and related businesses is encouraging, but it hasn't been enough to offset the tepid performance of the rest of the economy.

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Billionaire investor Warren Buffett said Thursday he remains confident in the abilities of JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, a day before the bank is set to report its latest earnings results and shed more light on its loss on a bad trade.

JPMorgan initially estimated that its loss was $2 billion when it disclosed the trade in May, although Dimon said then that the loss could grow.

Dimon has apologized to shareholders, and days after the loss was disclosed, Chief Investment Officer Ina Drew, who oversaw the trading group responsible for the trade, left the company.

Buffett, who is chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said during an interview on CNBC that he still has faith in Dimon.

7I think Jamie Dimon is one of the best bankers in the world. He understands banking and risk," Buffett, a JPMorgan shareholder, said.

JPMorgan's loss has heightened concerns that the biggest banks still pose risks to the U.S. financial system, less than four years after the financial crisis in the fall of 2008.

Shares of JPMorgan shed 35 cents to $34.22 in premarket trading.

Buffett was also asked about recent troubles at Britain's Barclays, which has been fined $453 million by U.S. and British authorities for supplying false data which went into calculations of the London interbank offered rate, LIBOR, a key global interest rate.

Buffett said he understood why Bob Diamond subsequently resigned as CEO of Barclay's.

"I don't think he had any choice but to go," Buffett said.

Diamond agreed to terms for a final settlement, which includes forfeiting up to $31 million in bonuses and incentives, on Tuesday.