Economic slowdown awaits U. S. in 2022

The U.S. economy will be battling a continued slowdown in 2022 as it contends with sticky inflation and supply chain bottlenecks.

Growth is clearly slowing. Obviously the U. S. has passed the peak growth rate, but it’s a relatively graduate slowdown.

A number of economists have cut their 2021 GDP growth estimate to 5.6% from 5.7%. The group also issued a somewhat tepid 4% GDP growth projection for 2022, down from 4.4% previously.

For the third quarter, estimates of real U.S. GDP hover around 3.25%. The U. S. economy is still growing solidly right now as consumers spend pent up savings, the pandemic’s grip on mobility begins to ease, and the employment market remains hot.

These factors were all evident in the significantly better than expected September retail sales report, where sales online and at department stores led the way.