RCF Vice President Peter Bernstein is a contributor to the Philadelphia Fed’s Survey of Professional Forecasters.
Positive Signs for Economy Continued in 2017Q3
The economy continued its solid performance in the third quarter of 2017, growing at a 3.3 percent rate, somewhat above our Q3 forecast of 2.8 percent growth. Business investment was a bit stronger than projected though much of that was due to a build-up in inventories which often provides only a temporary boost. Consumer spending was a little weaker than we had projected, but this also resulted in drop-in imports. Inflation, unemployment, job growth, and housing starts were all very close to our projections while interest rates were slightly lower than we expected.
RCF 2017Q4 Forecasts for the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Society Dec 17
