TheBalance.com:
Experts Are Cautiously Optimistic.
The U.S. economy has improved since 2020. This cautiously positive outlook is based on experts’ reviews of the key economic indicators, including gross domestic product (GDP), unemployment, and inflation. Analysts also have taken a hard look at interest rates, oil and gas prices, jobs, and the impact of climate change.
The most critical economic indicator is GDP, which measures the nation’s production of goods and services.
What Is the U.S. Economy Like Right Now?
The economy recovered in the third quarter (Q3) of 2021 expanding by 33.8%.1 Although a record, it was not enough to offset earlier losses, including the 5% decline in real GDP at an annual rate in the first quarter, signaling the onset of the 2020 recession.
The new recession, which began in March 2020, ended 128 months of expansion, the longest in U.S. history.2
In Q2, the economy contracted by a record 31.2%. Quarterly GDP had never experienced a drop greater than 10% since record-keeping began in 1947.
In April 2020, retail sales were down 14.7% as governors closed nonessential businesses, but by May sales recovered, increasing by 18.3% as shops and restaurants slowly reopened safely. While there have been several months in late 2020 and early 2021 with small declines, none have been as dramatic; by June 2021, sales were up 0.6%.3
Also in April 2020, the unemployment rate skyrocketed to 14.8% as companies furloughed workers. It remained in the double digits until August, when it began to steadily decline.4 In the week ending January 9, 2021, though, claims rose to 904,000. That marked the largest number of initial claims filed since mid-August.5
By June 2021, the unemployment rate was fairly steady at 5.9% after remaining below 6.4% since the beginning of the year. New unemployment claims averaged 394,000 in June.
Economic Growth
According to the most recent forecast released at the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on June 16, 2021, U.S. GDP growth is expected to rise by 7% in 2021. It is estimated to then drop to a 3.2% growth rate in 2022 and slow further to 2.4% in 2023.6
Unemployment
The FOMC estimates an unemployment rate of 4.5% for 2021. It will gradually decline in the following years, down to 3.8% in 2022 and 3.5% in 2023.6 The rate peaked at 14.8% in April 2020 as workers were let go from their jobs in response to the pandemic.4
The real unemployment rate includes the underemployed, the marginally attached, and discouraged workers. For that reason, it is around double the widely reported data you typically see in news articles.
Jobs
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes an occupational outlook each year that goes into great detail about each industry and occupation. Overall, the BLS expects total employment to increase by six million jobs between 2019 and 2029.7
The BLS 2019 through 2029 projections do not include impacts of the coronavirus pandemic and response efforts, as the historical data was finalized in spring 2020.
Positions in health care and social assistance are projected to grow to 3.1 million jobs over the course of the decade, reaching 23.5 million come 2029. Computer and math occupations, and those based on alternative energy production, will also grow rapidly. For example, the BLS predicts jobs for wind turbine service technicians to increase by 60.7% from 2019 to 2029.
On the other hand, manufacturing and retail industries will continue shedding jobs, while e-commerce continues to grow. That same shift could increase jobs in transportation and warehousing. Other declines will occur in the postal service, agriculture, and some information-related industries.
Inflation
The core inflation rate is predicted to be 3% in 2021, dropping to 2.1 in 2022 and 2023.6 The Fed’s target inflation rate is 2%.8 The core inflation rate—the Fed’s preferred rate when setting monetary policy—strips out volatile gas and food prices.
Interest Rates
In March 2020, the FOMC held an emergency meeting to address the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which lowered the fed funds rate to a range of 0% and 0.25%.9
And on September 16, 2020, the FOMC announced that it would keep the benchmark rate at its current level of 0.1% until inflation reached 2% over a long period of time.10
The fed funds rate controls short-term interest rates. These include banks’ prime rate, the Libor, most adjustable-rate loans, and credit card rates.
The Fed is also working on keeping long-term rates low in an effort to make borrowing money cheaper, and in turn encourage consumer and business spending. It restarted its quantitative easing (QE) program, and soon expanded QE purchases to an unlimited amount. In March, the Federal Reserve announced it would purchase $500 billion in U.S. Treasuries and $200 billion in mortgage-backed securities, too.11
By June 2020, its balance sheet had grown to a record of $7.2 trillion. A year later, in June 2021, that number had reached $8.1 trillion.12
By buying bank securities, the Fed reduces supply in the Treasury market, which increases the prices and lowers the return (or yield) on these long-term notes. Those yields set the benchmark for long-term fixed-rate mortgages and corporate bonds.
Treasury yields also depend on the demand for the dollar. Demand is high right now, so that also puts downward pressure on yields. Once the global economy recovers, investors may demand less of this ultra-safe investment, increasing yields and interest rates.
Oil and Gas Prices
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) provides an outlook on oil and gas prices from 2020 to 2050. In June 2021, crude oil prices averaged $73 per barrel for Brent global, $33/barrel higher than in June 2020.13 The EIA estimates that this will remain stable throughout the second half of 2021, with decreases coming in 2022.
The EIA’s energy outlook through 2050 predicts rising oil prices. According to the data, the average Brent oil price could increase to $173 per barrel in 2050, adjusted for inflation to 2020 dollars.14 By then, the cheap sources of oil will have been exhausted, making crude oil production more expensive.
This forecast does not take into account government efforts to increase renewable energy production in an effort to stop global warming. It also does not factor in the pandemic’s impact on oil prices.
Climate Change
The Federal Reserve is concerned about how climate change will affect the economy. Research from the Richmond Fed estimates that, if the country continues to produce emissions at a high rate, climate change could reduce the annual GDP growth rate by up to a third of the historical average.15
In 2020, the U.S. experienced damage from both hurricanes and wildfires, as it has in past years. Global damage from natural disasters associated with climate change, such as hurricanes, floods, and wildfires, was $210 billion in 2020, up significantly from $66 billion in 2019.16
In the U.S., losses covered by insurance totaled $82 billion in 2020 and $57 billion in 2019. Damage claims have become worse and more frequent due to global warming. There were 980 natural disasters in 2020, compared to 860 in 2019.
The Fed now requires banks to plan for the economic impact of increased extreme weather. For example, it is asking Florida banks to have risk-management plans for hurricanes.
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