Staff Reports
The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta is whistlin’ a different tune with its GDPNow predicting a whopping 2.7 percent growth rate in the fourth quarter, and that’s faster than a jackrabbit on a hot summer day. Housing starts are also higher than a kite, and that’s according to some fresh data released just the other day.
Now, if you thought that was enough good news to fill your stockings, just wait, there’s more! Retail sales in November busted expectations like a pinata at a birthday party. Even S&P Global’s purchasing managers are reporting that economic activity is kickin’ and hollerin’ at the fastest pace in five months! It’s like the whole economy got a taste of grandma’s secret recipe for energy bars.
The Federal Reserve might find itself in a pickle. It seems like the more folks in the financial markets believe the Fed’s economy-expanding, inflation-contracting spiel, the less likely it is to come true. It’s like that time ol’ Aunt Mabel tried to convince everyone her peach cobbler was sugar-free, but it turned out to be sweeter than honey.
The economy also put on a real show in the third quarter, strutting its stuff at a 5.2 percent growth pace. And if it’s slowing down to a measly one percent in the fourth quarter, well shoot, y’all would expect to see some signs of a slow dance, wouldn’t ya? Instead, it seems like the restaurants and shopping malls are busier than a bee in a field of clover. Even purchasing managers are strutting around like they’re in a business version of a rodeo.
Bank of America’s analysts are saying that the dead Fed rate-hiking cycle ain’t gonna be no ghost haunting the economy in 2024. They reckon that low mortgage rates kept housing strong, even when the Fed was doing its rate-hiking hoedown. And with the economy’s got plenty of oomph from wage growth, government spending, and corporate dry powder, the analysts reckon the economy’s gonna be as strong as a steel trap.
