U.S. economy forecast to grow for next 2 years
Source: the China Post (09/13/2016)
According to a report by the National Association for Business Economics, economists surveyed in August predict the U.S. economy will continue to grow for the next two years, but they have scaled back their expectations, regarding the rate of growth.
The median estimate from the surveyed economists calls for gross domestic product growth of 1.5 percent this year, down from the 1.8 percent they forecast in June. The outlook for next year calls for 2.3 percent growth.
In addition, 81 percent of those surveyed said they don't expect that the U.S. economy will peak until at least 2018.
The report represents the fourth-consecutive quarterly survey in which the participating economists have lowered their expectations for GDP growth for 2016.
The group points to lower expectations for business investment as the main reason, but it also notes that concerns about the outcome of November's U.S. presidential election are also weighing on expectations.
On the bright side, the economists don't expect the reduced GDP expectations to carry over to consumer spending. The report's median forecast for growth in real personal consumption expenditures is 2.7 percent in 2016 and 2.6 percent in 2017.
The panel is also now predicting flat corporate profits in 2016, which is better than the median 2 percent decline projected in June. For 2017, they expect a gain of 4.2 percent.