Here’s More Bad News About the Direction of the U.S. Economy
A new survey finds that many economists believe U.S. economic growth is slowing down.
The International Monetary Fund and the U.S. Federal Reserve have cautioned that the American economy would grow less than expected in 2016. Their concerns have crept into the minds of economists.
The International Monetary Fund and the U.S. Federal Reserve have cautioned that the American economy would grow less than expected in 2016. Their concerns have crept into the minds of economists.
On Monday, the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) released a survey of business economists showing they are far more pessimistic about the direction of the U.S. economy than they were last year. The economists surveyed now predict the U.S. will grow by 2.2. percent this year, down from a December projection of 5 percent. Seventy-nine percent of them also lowered their outlook for 2017.
“Most panelists in the NABE March Outlook Survey expect the next U.S. business cycle peak will not occur until 2018 or later,” NABE President Lisa Emsbo-Mattingly said in a statement. Since the December survey, she said, 66 percent of panelists lowered their GDP growth forecast for 2016, meaning they are more pessimistic about the extent the U.S. economy might expand.
A slower-growing U.S. economy means fewer jobs and potential decreases in salaries. It’s also symbolic: The U.S. economy has been growing steadily since 2010 as it started recovering from the depths of the Great Recession that began in 2008. If the new and numerous forecasts are correct, 2016 could buck this trend.
The survey is the latest in a string of downward revisions to the direction of the U.S. economy. This month, Fed chief Janet Yellen said the U.S. Central Bank would hold off on two of four planned interest rate hikes this year because of concerns about the fiscal health of the United States. According to the IMF, the U.S. economy will grow by 2.8 percent, down 0.3 percent from an earlier 2015 prediction.
Photo credit: EDUARDO MUNOZ ALVAREZ/Getty Images
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