We’re hearing about it all the time these days – the U.S. trade deficit widened in 2018 to a 10-year high, with the goods gap with China jumping to a record high despite tariffs on USD 250 billion worth of Chinese imports – all while the U.S. economy reached a level of growth it hadn’t seen since before the Great Recession.
The economic outlook for 2019 can be looked at in one of two ways – through the scope of the pessimistic geo-political noise dominating the headlines, or via the time-tested evidence our economy is spitting out indicating continued strength for U.S. markets. We at Dynamic Capital choose the latter, as do many of this nation’s CEOs surveyed by the Business Roundtable CEO Economic Outlook Survey. Jamie Dimon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Chairman of Business Roundtable said, “The BRT CEO survey shows that confidence among America’s business leaders remains strong.”
Surpassing expectations, the number of Americans filing for unemployment last week feel significantly – nearing a 43-year low – while the labor market continues to tighten, providing an environment that could go on to apply upward pressure on wage growth.
The world’s largest emerging economy, China, is predicted to have seen a steady 6.7% growth during the final quarter of 2016. Aided by higher government spending and generous bank lending, the tailwind heading into what is expected to be a turbulent 2017 will give the country a good head start.
© Dynamic Capital
