U.S. Economic News
January 22, 2018
U.S. Economic Indicators
The Chicago Fed National Activity Index rose from +0.11 (revised) in November to +0.27 in December. The production, sales, and employment components made positive contributions while the personal consumption & housing component contributed negatively. Chicago Fed Report
U.S. News
The Wall Street Journal reports that the IMF expects the global economy to accelerate in 2018 due in part to recently-passed tax cuts in the U.S. The IMF revised its estimate for global growth up to 3.9% from 3.7% and also increased its estimate for U.S. growth to 2.7%, up 0.4 percentage point from October. WSJ
According to Harriet Torry of the Wall Street Journal, the economic effects of the government shutdown that began Saturday are expected to be muted. Torry writes that although a significant number of federal workers may be furloughed, which could cause weaker payroll growth, the effects on GDP are expected to be mild, especially if the shutdown is short-lived. WSJ
Nick Timiraos of the Wall Street Journal writes that the recently-passed tax cuts are projected to balloon U.S. federal deficits to a trillion dollars per year, which could make it more difficult for federal stimulus in the event of an economic downturn. Experts warn that worsening deficits and a significant expansion of publicly-held debt will leave future policymakers with less ammunition to enact expansionary policies during the next recession. WSJ