The U.S. Economic Activities in 2015 Will Be a Continuation of the Same

We expect the U. S. economy to remain on its current steady trajectory well into the fourth quarter of 2015. Newly hired workers combined with Non- Residential Fixed Investment are expected to positively impact the GDP growth starting in 2016. Consensus expects the GDP growth rate for 2015 to hover around 2.25 percent. Falling gas prices have added slightly to consumer confidence, and are expected to boost spending. However, we don’t anticipate this windfall to have a significant impact on the GDP growth in 2015. Continued job and income growth will contribute to improving consumer confidence and spending as evident in the November robust auto sales. However, growth of GDP will continue to be below its potential due to weaker-thanexpected exports because of sluggish European economies and slower economic activities in China. CONSUMERS Rajeev Dhawan at Georgia State University continues to be optimistic with respect to consumer confidence and spending because “for the last nine months, monthly job additions have been above 200,000.” Further, continued gains in the stock market will contribute to slightly higher consumer spending through the “wealth effect,” once consumers ...